Mobile Games With The Best Graphics

Key Takeaways

• Mobile gaming industry projected to hit $128 billion by 2027.
• Rise of AAA visuals on mobiles thanks to features like ray tracing.

Mobile gaming is on track to become a $128 billion industry by 2027—and that’s just the beginning. With features like ray tracing and 5G becoming standard in modern smartphones, developers are increasingly confident in delivering AAA visuals and high-end graphics without sacrificing performance. As a result, players are flooded with announcements about cutting-edge mobile games with visuals that rival those of consoles and PCs, leaving many unsure of which to try.

While 2025 promises an impressive lineup of high-profile mobile games, there are already plenty of indie and big-budget titles that stand out visually. The following list highlights some of these games, focusing not just on their technical specifications but also on their visual appeal and artistic ingenuity.

Updated on November 21, 2024, by Mohsen Baqery: While major releases like Need for Speed Mobile are still on the horizon, set to bring a fresh breath of innovation to the mobile gaming industry, players are fortunate to be in an era where mobile gaming is thriving. And AAA-like games are now available across nearly every genre. With this in mind, the list has been updated to feature some of the most recent releases, each deserving a spot for its stunning visuals.

29 Jujutsu Kaisen Phantom Parade

An Interactive Anime

• Platform: Android & iOS
• Released: Oct 26, 2024
• Developer: Sumzap, Inc.
• Genre: Turn-based RPG
• Publisher: TOHO Games

Phantom Parade sets itself apart with its dedication to delivering an anime-faithful experience. The storyline closely follows the events of Jujutsu Kaisen, and most of the original anime cast has reprised their roles for the game. Despite its turn-based format, the gameplay effectively captures the essence of the series’ iconic combat sequences.

While Phantom Parade doesn’t have the most realistic or cutting-edge graphics compared to recent AAA mobile games, its commitment to the anime’s spirit and its strategic use of visual effects make battles immersive and engaging. The game successfully creates an interactive visual novel, allowing players to step into the roles of beloved Jujutsu Kaisen characters like Yuji Itadori, Megumi Fushiguro, Nobara Kugisaki, and Satoru Gojo.

28 Call Of Duty: Mobile

K/D Stands for Killer Design

Call of Duty is one of the biggest gaming franchises of all time, and it’s easy to see why so many people love engaging in tight multiplayer matches online as they try to improve their K/D ratio and attain victory at all costs. It was only a matter of time before this franchise would branch out to mobiles, with Call of Duty: Mobile making this transition in a pretty smooth and effective manner.

Coming with its fair share of iconic maps and the classic Call of Duty action that fans have grown to love about this series, the game is a blast to play through from start to end. Perhaps the best thing about Call of Duty: Mobile is just how good it looks, with the game doing a great job of pushing mobile hardware to its very limits with cutting-edge graphics that seemed unthinkable on phones for the longest time. It’s one of the most popular mobile games around now and continues to be downloaded to kingdom come even now.

27 Shadowgun Legends

Alien Annihilation for Adrenaline Boost

• Release Date: March 22, 2018
• Developer: Madfinger Games

Shadowgun is a popular shooter game on mobile phones that has become pretty massive in its own right. The aesthetic of the title feels a lot like Gears of War with a unique spin of its own, and fans love the many ways they can tackle the missions in this game.

Of course, the multiplayer component is the biggest aspect of this game and a huge reason why Legends is so popular in the first place. The graphics of this title are truly incredible and look amazing even with the game being five years old at this point.

26 Alien: Isolation

Isolated Humans vs. Aliens

Alien: Isolation is an incredible horror game that combines elements of an immersive to make for a truly engaging experience. Given how beautiful this title looks, many fans were surprised to know that this game actually works on mobile platforms.

Of course, a pretty beefy phone is required to run this game properly, but players who have a good phone can play Alien: Isolation on the go with ease. It’s a great game, even if the smaller screen may reduce the impact of some of the scares in this game.

25 Zenless Zone Zero

Modern-day Visuals, Nostalgic Ambience

HoYoverse’s Zenless Zone Zero stands out among recent mobile games for a key reason: it avoids the typical copycat strategies. While the game is undeniably visually appealing, its charm goes beyond flashy graphics or detailed characters and locations. ZZZ crafts a distinct atmosphere inspired by early 2000s aesthetics, blending retro-futuristic cinematography with engaging visual storytelling.

Another standout feature is its accessibility. Unlike many high-end mobile games, ZZZ is not overly demanding on hardware. It runs smoothly on most mid-range phones and requires minimal storage space. Players have seen the pitfalls of treating mobile games like console titles—stunning graphics at the cost of endless performance issues. ZZZ sidesteps this problem, offering a polished, visually striking experience without turning your phone into a makeshift cooling experiment.

24 Dead Cells

An Unforgettable Dungeon Crawler

Dead Cells is a game that got a ton of promotion courtesy of IGN’s notorious plagiarism controversy, so it’s great that the game itself is a blast to play through in its own right. The game combines elements of roguelike, Metroidvania, and Soulslike gameplay to make for a delectable and engaging combination.

Dead Cells is available on mobile platforms and looks gorgeous courtesy of its unique art style. It’s recommended to use a controller since precise input is downright necessary to get through this tough-as-nails experience. Players who are patient and slowly learn how the game works will be mowing through enemies in no time at all.

23 Wuthering Waves

A Fresh Gacha to Rival Genshin’s Visuals

Genshin Impact has been throned as the most successful gacha game for many years now. However, Wuthering Waves has become the closest title to threaten Genshin’s throne in quite a long time. Not only has this new gacha been an immense financial success for its developers, but it has also managed to match up to Genshin’s high visual standards.

The game’s lively open world map with secrets and interesting creatures lurking everywhere has been a major reason for its visual appeal. But the decision to make character designs as unique as possible (without following in the footsteps of games like Genshin) has also made Wuthering Waves one of the best mobile games with top-notch visuals.

22 AFK Journey

Lovely Visuals, Polished Universe

Exploring the universe of AFK Journey in its isometric view proves that Lilith Games has done an excellent job of bringing the world to life. Players are likely to forget that the game is actually a gacha RPG title, and might treat it like a mini-scale open-world adventure game. Despite AFK Journey’s map being huge for a mobile game, there are fascinating visual details in every corner, encouraging the player to check them out—even if no reward or secret is guaranteed.

Another strong point in AFK Journey’s visuals is how the game treats character designs and cutscenes. All Heroes look incredibly sharp and well-drawn, and the professionally rendered 3D cutscenes that they participate in only add to their appeal.

AFK Journey
won the award for 2024
Best Game of the Year
. Google’s blog wrote, ”
AFK Journey
‘s expansive roster of characters and satisfying tactical battle system made this fantasy RPG our Best Game of the Year.”

21 Solo Leveling: Arise

A Webtoon Came Alive

Part of Solo Leveling’s webtoon success was certainly due to its appealing character designs. Now, Solo Leveling: Arise, the video game adaptation of the titular webtoon, has managed to surpass these visual standards by creating an immersive world of handsome and attractive Hunters. On top of the incredible character designs, Arise also excels at recreating iconic scenes and settings from the Solo Leveling webtoon and anime.

Of course, besides helping fans relive iconic moments of the series, Solo Leveling: Arise also manages to keep the combat as visually appealing as possible. The fast-paced battles make the player feel like a true Hunter straight out of anime who can defeat monsters gloriously.

20 Star Wars: Hunters

Top-Notch TPS Visuals on Mobile

With the success of TPS multiplayer games on mobile, the Star Wars franchise decided to venture into the genre with a rather ambitious project: Star Wars: Hunters. If it were a couple of years ago, most players would have a hard time believing that Hunters is indeed playable on smartphones. But thanks to games like Warzone Mobile, Hunters is now an industry standard for many players.

Regardless, Stars Wars: Hunters does an incredible job of bringing console-level graphics to smartphones without overheating them. One aspect that Hunters shine in is weapon design. The devs have managed to keep all weapon designs creative while creating a nostalgic vibe every Star Wars fan would appreciate.

19 Life Is Strange

This Game’s Visuals Are Stunning

Life is Strange is a great story-driven video game that is a blast to play through, with its characters and story being quite engaging indeed. The ability to rewind time is a godsend, allowing players to make decisions that are more thought-out and less impulsive.

Given the importance of every decision in Life is Strange, it’s easy to see why players will be rewinding time more often than not. This game is great for mobile users, allowing them to start up this great-looking game and get a few minutes of gameplay in no time flat.

18 Telltale’s The Walking Dead

An Emotional Visual Novel

Telltale’s The Walking Dead is a title that not many people would think of when it comes to graphical fidelity. However, a game’s visuals are dependent on the art style as well, and The Walking Dead’s cel-shaded look helps it look amazing even now.

The story of Lee and Clementine as they struggle to survive in a world overrun by zombies is a riveting tale with an emotional conclusion. Players will find all the decisions in the game to be particularly nerve-wracking, which makes sense given the chilling setting of this title.

17 ARK: Survival Evolved

Surviving Dinosaurs

It’s only a given for big-budget titles that release on a bunch of modern platforms including mobile to bag a spot on this list. ARK: Survival Evolved definitely fits in this category.

The visuals are down-scaled for mobile but still look pretty great. This, coupled with the fun survival gameplay, makes for a great time indeed that fans of the genre will have an amazing time.

16 Real Racing 3

Except It’s a Mobile Game

It’s amazing what Real Racing has accomplished for the sim racing community. Its accessibility on mobile platforms has let many people access this niche yet exciting genre, where precision is key to securing victory.

Real Racing 3 is the latest game in the series and looks absolutely spectacular on mobile devices. The fact that this game is still regularly updated to this day despite coming out a long time back shows just how active its community really is.

15 Fortnite

Unreal Visuals with Unreal Engine 5

Fortnite is a game that pretty much everyone has heard of by now. This free-to-play battle royale has become all the rage, with its high-profile collaborations and intense gameplay turning it into one of the biggest multiplayer games around.

The game has had a bit of a rocky history with mobile platforms, but its bright and appealing art style makes it a great candidate for this list. Even on mobile, the game looks brilliant and is worth trying out for any fan of battle royale games.

14 Asphalt 9: Legends

Legends of Drifting

• Release Date: February 26, 2018
• Developer: Gameloft

It seems that most racing games on mobile platforms really push the bar when it comes to visuals in video games. This can be seen in the Asphalt series, which is easily one of the most popular arcade racers on mobile.

The latest game, Asphalt 9: Legends, looks simply incredible. It’s hard to believe that such a good-looking game is somehow running on mobile devices.

13 GRID Autosport

Getting Griddy Behind the Wheel

• Release Date: June 24, 2014
• Developer: Feral Interactive, Codemasters, Codemasters Racing

Anyone who has played GRID Autosport can confirm it is a PC/Console game. So the sheer fact that gamers can enjoy this on handheld devices like iPhone and Android phones is quite unbelievable. Not only does GRID Autosport look good, but it plays like a proper semi-simulator racing game.

The quality of this game is unparalleled to many other racing games on mobiles, which is what makes it stand apart. The best handheld version of GRID Autosport is the one for the iPad Pro, as it runs on high resolution with 120 FPS.

12 Battle Prime

Bring Big Battle to Small Screens

• Release Date: August 19, 2019
• Developer: Press Fire Games Limited

This Epic Modern FPS for mobile devices is one of the best-looking games players can enjoy right now. From the outside, Battle Prime looks similar to Call of Duty. After all, it offers similar gameplay mechanics, maps, and multiplayer modes.

However, the third-person perspective and extremely fluid animations are better than many mobile shooter games. Battle Prime has a colorful, bright, but unmemorable style. However, that doesn’t mean it looks bad. This game takes the cake when it comes to visual variety and environments. Battle Prime offers snowy areas, urban jungles, deep forests, and desert maps.

11 Layers Of Fear

Fear Is Like an Onion…

Layers of Fear is a pretty decent Psychological horror single-player game on major platforms. However, on mobiles, it has an edge unlike any. Most gamers would know that it is not easy to find a good horror game on Android or iOS, which is the gap Layers of Fear fills.

The mobile version offers a similar experience to the main game, with predictable graphical downgrades. However, even after being visually inferior to the Windows version, Layers of Fear manages to look excellent on mobiles. The best part about the game is its environment, which is extremely chilling due to how good it looks.

Tried-and-True Tactical Turn-Based

Who would’ve thought that the cult-classic turn-based tactics game XCOM would make its way to mobiles? The XCOM 2 Collection is a console game made to work on mobiles and iPads. It has everything that makes the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows versions good, including but not limited to the graphics.

The fans of the series know XCOM 2 Collection is one of the best turn-based tactics & tactical role-playing games one can play. The fact that it is on mobile only makes it more accessible. XCOM 2 Collection can last up to 70+ hours of playtime, and for a $15 price, it is a steal.