MiniSquadron! Android Review

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RATING:
5 out of 5

PRICE:
FREE Lite Version or $1.99 Full Version

TASTY:
Fun 2D side-scrolling arcade shooter offers up tons of planes, amazing graphics, and nearly unlimited replay ability.

BUMMER:
Hardcore flying game fans may find the simplified controls to be too basic and arcade-oriented.

COOL:
Force your foes (local AI or friends via wifi multiplayer) to fly ever-higher until they stall, then dive and cut them to ribbons! Yes, folks, there’s enough real flying tricks in this game to satisfy even flight sim fans.

REVIEW:
Immelmann’s and Cuban Eights anyone? Run, don’t walk to the Android Marketplace to snag this loopy, luscious arcade shooter featuring 50 fabulous mini planes and eight levels of crazy-fun combat.

Sporting wifi multiplayer ability, and coming in under two sawbucks for the full version, MiniSquadron! successfully boils down the flight sim experience into a 2D side-scroller with flawless multi-touch controls. In fact, the easy control scheme will keep your plane flying right, and if you hit the sides, no worries – you automatically loop back into the playing field.

That said, there are some interesting tactics that will help you survive and thrive in the skies. Note that you can fly higher and higher; fly too high and you’ll stall. Dive and pull up to recover. Notice, though, that pursuing enemies will do the same! Use this to your advantage and you’ll be rising through the ranks and earning upgrades and points that much faster.

In fact, later levels offer up tons of silly-fun laser beams, cluster bombs, missiles, and more. These tend to cause considerable friendly fire among your AI foes, and adds some comic relief to the mayhem at times.

So blast everything in sight, enjoy the crash and plane destruction effects, and revel in each unlocked plane and gadget. There are many hours of game play waiting for you in this welcome addition to the Android Marketplace collection of quality games, so what are you waiting for?