Item: Super Crossfighter
Rating: 10.0
Author: Christine Chan

Super Crossfighter ($1.99) by Radiangames is a completely revamped version of the original Super Crossfire that came out a few years ago. It’s an explosive arcade space shooter that is in the same vein of Space Invaders, but with some unique twists to take advantage of. If you enjoy other shooters, like JoyJoy and Ballistic SE, then you need Super Crossfighter in your life.

When I’m stressed out or just had a long day, I like to unwind by shooting things and witnessing colorful explosions in space. I mean, what’s a better way to relieve some tension than blowing things up? That’s why I love arcade shooter games, because it gets me in the zone and laying waste to my foes is made easy with simple controls.

I’m a huge fan of Radiangames because their games are awesome, including the ones I mentioned earlier, and others like Fluid SE. When I saw that they released Super Crossfighter earlier this month, I had to check it out for myself, since I missed out on the original. Fortunately, Super Crossfighter proves to be a blast even if you didn’t play Super Crossfire from years ago.

The graphics in Super Crossfighter are fantastic. If you grew up with classic arcade games like Space Invaders, then you will feel right at home with Super Crossfighter. The game is filled with bright neon bullets and lasers, and all of the ships (enemies and your own) are distinctively dressed in retro stylings. Animations are incredibly smooth and fluid, meaning you’ll never miss a beat as you duke it out with aliens. The upbeat techno music is delightful to listen to, and the sound effects are fun.

There are two game modes: Campaign and Survival. In the beginning, you will only be able to play the normal mode, and unlock Survival with the victory points you earn. The normal mode is split up into various chapters with increasingly difficult waves of enemies, and you can unlock chapters to start from, as long as you reached that level before. There are two difficulty levels available at the start (Rookie and Hotshot), with a third one (Ace) available later on.

For each level, you will face off against waves of enemy ships, and the only way to move on to the next stage is to clear out all foes in the wave. The controls in Super Crossfighter are intuitive and feel natural, especially if you’ve played other dual-stick shooter type games. To move your ship horizontally along the perimeter and shoot, just swipe your thumb on the screen. The magic with Super Crossfighter is that your ship can “warp” to the other side of the screen to avoid bullets and break through defenses. To warp, just tap on the screen with your other thumb while moving and shooting. This is an important move that you will be doing frequently if you want to survive.

Optionally, if the default slider controls aren’t good enough for you, there are also tilt and virtual button controls, or you can hook up your MFi controller.

Your ship will also have a “super attack” laser that you can activate with a push of a button. However, this only lasts for a few seconds, though it devastates everything on the screen, and you need to fill up the gauge for it by defeating opponents.

You have three lives in each game, though you can earn more after getting enough points. Taking a hit from an enemy will deplete a life, and the game ends when you run out. There are also power-ups that will appear randomly that can do things like increase your firepower and even slow down time.

You get credits after every few levels to upgrade your ship. Different elements of your ship can be upgraded, like shot spread, shot speed, armor, and more. The maximum they can reach is five, with higher levels costing more.

Enemies drop gems when they’re defeated that you will want to acquire as well, because these are victory points that you can use for upgrades to the game. You also earn VP for successful missions. These range from things like getting more victory points after each perfect wave, more gem drops, wider blasts on super attacks, and more. Getting all of these seems expensive at first, but the game is so fun that you won’t mind playing it for hours to earn those sweet points.

Like other arcade shooters, this game is perfect for some competition among friends. So fortunately, there is Game Center integration for seven leaderboards, and there are 19 achievements to obtain. This only adds to the endless replay value of the game, as there are over 150 waves to conquer.

I’m loving Super Crossfighter, and it’s a game that I can keep coming back to without getting bored. The visuals are dazzling, the music is catchy, the controls are intuitive and flexible enough for anyone, and the gameplay is challenging. This is a perfect homage to the classic arcade games with some wonderful twists to spice things up.

I highly recommend checking out Super Crossfighter if you haven’t already — it’s a must-have shooter for fans of the genre. You can get Super Crossfighter on the App Store as a universal download for $1.99.