Earlier in the month, we learned that Psyonix was planning to release its mobile sidescrolling interpretation of Rocket League on mobile across the globe. This rollout started with a few territories and has finally expanded to the US and EU, completing the worldwide launch for Rocket League Sideswipe. Amazingly, the game is great. I went hands-on with the title back in March when it was still in testing and came away pretty impressed, and I'm a diehard Rocket League player that plays on PC every night, so I'm not easily swayed. Not only does the core gameplay of hitting giant soccer balls into goals with cars hold up in its sidescrolling form, there's no monetization yet, which means the only way to earn in-game cosmetics is by playing the game. No matter how you slice it, Psyonix has hit this one out of the park.

Rocket League Sideswipe is available on the Play Store for free, and so far, there are no in-app purchases or advertisements, though I expect this to change sometime in the future. This means right now is the best time to check out Rocket League Sideswipe. As it stands, you can earn in-game currency as you play, and this currency can be used to purchase cosmetics to theme your vehicle. There is a Rocket Pass, but it too is totally free, and so you'll earn extra rewards as you make your way through the Pass. Weekly and seasonal challenges are also in the mix, and yes, there are loot boxes as rewards (possibly a sign of things to come).

To start, you'll only have two vehicles at your disposal, Octane (a car) and Merc (a van). There's a training mode for those that want to practice, and if you want to play against real people, there's Duel (1v1), Doubles (2v2), and Hoops (2v2 basketball). Finding a match is easy, though you can get matched or paired with bots. Since today is release day, matches with real people are easy to find, and the servers are holding up so far.

Of course, a game like Rocket League Sideswipe lives or dies by its controls, and thankfully they are pretty great. The touch controls are straightforward, with a jump and boost button on the right side of the screen, and your directional controls are on the left. Finishing a match with these controls is easy enough, especially with a bit of practice, but if you hate touch controls, you'll be glad to know controller support is also included. Having tested the game with my trusty Stratus Duo, I can confirm bluetooth controllers work great. You'll still have to navigate the UI with the touchscreen, but once you're in a match, a controller works as expected and is easily my preferred way to play.

So there you have it. After Rocket League Sideswipe's rollout started mid-month, the global release has finished today with the launch in the US and EU. While I'm sure many were expecting a half-hearted cash-grab now that Epic owns Psyonix, so far, Rocket League Sideswipe is looking like an exceptional mobile release. So if you're a fan of the original or are simply curious to see for yourself what Sideswipe has to offer, you can grab the free install from the Play Store widget below.

Rocket League Sideswipe Developer: Psyonix Studios
Price: Free
4.1
Download

UPDATE: 2021/12/03 11:20 EST BY MATTHEW SHOLTZ

Pixel 6 users are experiencing crasing in the tutorial, here's the fix

Rocket League Sideswipe finally rolled out to the US and UK earlier this week, rounding off the global launch. Sadly, some eager fans out there have been having a tough time, where the game crashes in the tutorial, locking these players out of the game. Well, an enterprising player on Reddit has figured out that if you navigate to the game's graphical settings, you can drop the Quality Presets to Low, quickly working around the issue. And that's it. Sure, the graphics won't be amazing on the lowest setting, but at least those who were stuck will be able to get past the tutorial to get into the multiplayer gameplay, which is where all the fun is to be found.

Game Settings->Graphics->Set Quality Presets to LOW

This eliminates the crashing for many Pixel 6 and Pro devices until a fix is deployed.

InkedRocket League Sideswipe quality presets_LI

It also looks like not only is the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro affected by this issue, some users with Samsung device are also seeing problems where they can't get past the tutorial without crashing. So if you've noticed this bug, just drop the Quality Presets to Low before you jump into the tutorial, just like what's recommended for the Pixel 6. At the very least, it does sound lke Psyonix is aware of the problem, so here's hoping the bug is properly squashed in short order.