''Dillon's Rolling Western'', known in Japan as , is a downloadable

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developed by

Vanpool Vanpools or Vanpooling is an element of the transit system that allow groups of people to share the ride similar to a carpool, but on a larger scale with concurrent savings in fuel and vehicle operating costs and thus usually a lower cost to the ...

and published by

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

for the

Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...

. It is the first game in the ''Dillon'' series. Released exclusively through the system's

Nintendo eShop The Nintendo eShop is a digital distribution service powered by the Nintendo Network for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, and by a dedicated online infrastructure for the Nintendo Switch. Launched in June 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS, the eShop was en ...

online storefront, the game features Dillon, an

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

armadillo Armadillos (meaning "little armored ones" in Spanish) are New World placental mammals in the order Cingulata. The Chlamyphoridae and Dasypodidae are the only surviving families in the order, which is part of the superorder Xenarthra, along wi ...

who must defend frontier villages from walking rock-like monsters. ''Dillon's Rolling Western'' combines elements of 3D exploration, action sequences and

tower defense Tower defense (TD) is a subgenre of strategy games where the goal is to defend a player's territories or possessions by obstructing the enemy attackers or by stopping enemies from reaching the exits, usually achieved by placing defensive struc ...

and was first unveiled at E3 2011 as ''The Rolling Western''. On February 14, 2013, Nintendo announced via a

Nintendo Direct Nintendo Direct is a series of online presentation or live shows produced by Nintendo, where information regarding the company's upcoming content or franchises is presented, such as information about games and consoles. The presentations began i ...

in North America that the game was to be followed up by a sequel to be released in the following April, entitled '' Dillon's Rolling Western: The Last Ranger''. On September 13, 2017, Nintendo of Japan announced via a

a new installment for the Nintendo 3DS called . On March 8, 2018 via a

, the game was revealed to be localized as '' Dillon's Dead-Heat Breakers''. The game was released on April 26, 2018 in Japan, and was later released on May 24 in North America and May 25 in Europe. It is the first game in the series to receive a physical release, but only in Japan and Europe. In North America, it remains a Nintendo eShop exclusive, like the previous installments. The game's protagonist, Dillon, is featured in the games '' Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U'' and '' Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' as an Assist Trophy.

Gameplay

Dillon, an armadillo, is a ranger charged with protecting villages from nightly invasions of walking rock-like monsters called Grocks. The Grocks attack the villages to feed on Scrogs, the residents' livestock. While Dillon is able to attack Grocks by rolling into them, the Grocks can sometimes outnumber Dillon. Thus, the villages have established defense towers that can be outfitted with weapons that will attack Grocks whenever they are in range. To get guns, Dillon must buy them, and sometimes he may have to build the gun tower first. In order to improve the villages' defenses, Dillon must collect materials by exploring mines and defeating Grocks; the materials can then be used to build stronger doors for the village. The stronger a door is, the more difficult it is for a Grock to get in.

Reception

The game received "mixed" reviews according to the

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website

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

References

External links

* * * {{Dillon series 2012 video games Vanpool games Action-adventure games Nintendo games Nintendo franchises Nintendo 3DS eShop games Nintendo 3DS-only games Nintendo 3DS games Tower defense video games Video games developed in Japan Video games with cel-shaded animation Western (genre) video games Fictional armadillos Video games produced by Kensuke Tanabe