Developer Halfbrick will release a major revamp of its classic arcade action game Fruit Ninja for the iPhone and iPad in early October, which will include some big gameplay changes along with a new menu and user interface.

In an email sent to the media, Halfbrick stated that Fruit Ninja, which challenges player to slice and dice various types of fruit by moving their fingers on a smartphone's touchscreen, has generated over 500 million downloads across all of its platforms since the first version was released in 2010. As far as the October revamp, Halfbrick says:

The team has thrown away the tired menu and UI designs, ensuring the steps between playing, equipping new gear, and using social features are all streamlined. Before starting each game, players can equip different Blades and Dojos, which were previously cosmetic only. Now, almost every item will have a unique effect on gameplay, which has effectively broken the score ceiling and added an exponential amount of depth and strategy to slicing. For example, the Great Wave dojo periodically spawns ten fruit at once, and the Autumn Blade creates a fruit-swirling tornado with every pineapple sliced. Players can mix and match their favorites, and leaderboard entries will display which combination of items were used.

Do you think it's a good idea to relaunch Fruit Ninja with such a major change?

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