At this year’s GDC, Bandai Namco Entertainment showed off several mobile games, some entirely new and some with new content coming to them this year. They focused on games based on established IP, primarily anime and manga, which felt surprisingly deep for the mobile space. Here we dig into two of those titles: Naruto X Boruto Ninja Voltage and One Piece Bounty Rush.

Released in November 2017, Naruto X Boruto Ninja Voltage has been downloaded over 10 million times between Android and iOS devices. This action/strategy/role-playing game is free to download and includes various in-app purchases. It takes place in the Naruto X Boruto world, with various other famous characters from the series to control and include in your party, like Sasuke, Kakashi, Sakura and more. Ninja Voltage includes multiple modes to play, including a base building mode where you set up various traps and obstacles throughout a sprawling base. You can also invade other bases that players have made with one primary character and three assisting NPC characters. There are also online co-op missions for Naruto fans that want to team up with their friends to take on challenges. The game offers a decent level of challenge for those who are looking for a relatively difficult mobile experience.

The spring update that Namco Bandai showed off at GDC includes new characters, like the synthetic human Mitsuki. The update will also bring with it the ability for players to acquire all of the ninjas in the game without obtaining in-game items and players can now use their favorite Shinobi from the beginning of the game. This spring update and more are sure to keep Ninja Voltage’s large fan base coming back for more, though a specific release date has not yet been revealed by Bandai Namco.

One Piece Bounty Rush is an upcoming mobile, 4-player PvP game centered around the long-running manga and anime series. In it, players work together and against one another in order to pick up as many berries on a battlefield as possible. Various characters from the series are playable, including Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro, Nami and more. Characters can be one of five different classes: Fighter, Supporter, Shooter, Swordsman or Warrior, all of which determine the character’s stats and special abilities. Players can die numerous times but dying will restart them at their team’s end of the map, while the opposing team’s base is located on the opposite end. Matches end once the timer runs out. As of now, it appears battlefields are generally rectangular, with many NPCs and destructible items between the two bases to focus on before going head-to-head with the enemy team.

The gameplay is simple, with a virtual joystick in the lower left-hand corner of the screen dictating character movement, and virtual button presses and swipes on the right initiating different moves. Though the game can feel a bit button mashey at first, it’s clear that teamwork is paramount to continued success – without a balanced party, and without proper communication, bosses and the other team will steamroll your group of pirates in a heartbeat. One Piece Bounty Rush doesn’t have a set price but it is confirmed to release sometime in 2018.

Ninja Voltage and Bounty Rush show promise and feel deeper than average mobile games. They are both free to play, with lots of optional paid downloads, but as of now neither appears to be pay to win. Bandai Namco had a couple of other games to show off during GDC, so keep your eyes on Hardcore Gamer for more updates on everything GDC, mobile gaming and more.