binding of isaac rebirth
Game art for "The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth." It's coming to various platforms in July. www.playstation.com

It may have taken three years and a bunch of game editing, but “The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth” is officially coming to the new 3DS and the Xbox One on July 21, and July 23 for gamers in North America. “Rebirth” is an enhanced remake of the original “Binding of Isaac,” an indie darling and one of the highest-rated games that came out in 2011.

While acclaimed, “The Binding of Isaac” has always been controversial due to its dark story and mature themes, especially since the game’s lead character is a fetus that was supposed to be aborted. While the game will remain uncensored for Microsoft’s Xbox One, a number of changes were made for the Nintendo Wii U and 3DS, which are detailed in the “Binding of Isaac” site.

“The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth” will be available for the 3DS, but will only work in the newest version of the handheld, due to the technological advancements of the handheld that the previous 3DS couldn’t handle. As for how the game uses the 3DS screens, it’s pretty basic: The top screen is where the gameplay is shown and the bottom screen is where the map and items are, as revealed through the Twitter account of the game’s publisher, Nicalis Inc.

Gameplay has remained intact, so it is still an incredibly difficult “roguelike” dungeon crawler with randomly generated rooms and a number of enemies, bosses and puzzles to get through. Thankfully for the player, there also are many power-ups to be found, which should help in fighting the game’s incredibly tough combatants.

Fans of “The Binding of Isaac” also have been waiting for the upcoming “Afterbirth” DLC for the game, which is free for those who purchase the game’s previous “Wrath of the Lamb” DLC. The game’s site has stated that neither the Xbox One nor the 3DS will come bundled with the “Afterbirth” expansion, as it has not been completed yet.

“The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth” is currently available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, PC via Steam, Mac and Linux.

Binding of Isaac Rebirth Xbox One (Credit: YouTube/Nicails, Inc.)