Note: This is mainly a repost of an iTunes review I wrote, but I wanted to share with my TechnoBrains readers and didn’t want to write a whole new review.

I love shooters, so I thought Retro Fighter would be worth looking into. It certainly has some nice elements to it. Each level is organized quite differently from the last.  The first level is just a bunch of ships haphazardly coming towards you, where level two offers a repeated bashing from large groups of ships attacking you at the same time. The game really turns everything on its head in level three when it shifts to an asteroids type scenario where ships are coming at you in 360 degrees. Unfortunately, that’s when the controls and visuals start to show their weakness.

You drag your finger to move the ship, and tap two fingers to unleash a super bomb. Standard firing is handled automatically so you can concentrate on flying. Unfortunately, when you get in the 360 degree level your hand starts to get in the way of your view as you try and guide the ship all around the screen. The type of control scheme Retro Fighter employs works much better when your ship stays at the bottom of the screen. That’s too bad, because conceptually the 360 degree level was the most interesting.

There are several power ups to be acquired throughout the game. Clone and region bombs are used immediately, while super bombs are triggered by tapping two fingers on the screen simultaneously. The only problem with that move is that it leaves you temporarily flightless, which isn’t a problem if you actually happen to fire the bomb. However, if you don’t quite pull of the move you’re leaving yourself vulnerable to your opponents for a second or two, which is all it takes to die. Other power ups include enhancements to your standard firing capability as well as a temporary shield. You get three lives to make it as far as you can. I’m not sure if you can earn extra lives, because I haven’t so far. However, this is quite the causal fighter in the sense that you can continue infinitely, so getting a bunch of extra lives really doesn’t matter.

Visually Retro Fighter actually looks pretty good – until you start blasting everything up, that is. The ships are just simple geometric designs, and that actually works well against the grid background. The background even warps as you move across it, which is a nice effect. However, when you start destroying ships the ensuing explosions look like confetti, and it doesn’t take long to clutter the screen. The problem with this is that some objects are hard to see with all this clutter, and I would often find myself dying without even knowing what hit me. This is only compounded by the whole “finger in the way” issue. The sound effects are pretty standard fare, and actually can get a bit tedious. The game really needs some music to offset that, and unfortunately there is none. I could see a nice 8-bit NES style soundtrack complimenting this game quite nicely.

I like Retro Fighter’s style, and I think there’s a lot of fun to be had here. I just wish there were a way to turn off some of the “sparkle”. Also, while I don’t know how to correct it short of implementing another control scheme, there needs to be a less obtrusive way to handle the 360 degree levels. Retro Fighter is certainly worth a look if you’re a shooter fan, though.

Final Verdict: Recommended
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