Fly Too Close To The Sun In Solar Wings
Solar Wings ($0.99) by Lace Mamba Global Ltd tries to be an epic shoot em up, but only ends up being a stink it up.
Just like Bug Princess 2, the idea is to destroy all of the enemy ships before they do the same to you. Three different characters are available, each with his or her own ship (although no appreciable difference can be discerned between them).
However, Bug Princess 2 this isn’t.
For starters, just getting into the game is a challenge in itself. This is a universal app that doesn’t work universally across the iPad and iPhone.
I had started the game on my iPad, but immediately noticed that the whole screen appeared as if it had shifted toward the bottom left corner.
From there, I couldn’t even get into the game. I couldn’t get past the level select screen, and no amount of force quitting or restarting could help it (incidentally, in order to play the game on the iPad requires touching above the buttons you want).
Trying my luck with the iPhone, I was able to get into the game.
This is a dual stick controller in addition to being a shoot em up, so the left corner is used for moving and the right side controls which direction you shoot (I’m about as fond of dual stick controllers as Indiana Jones is of snakes on a plane). According to the game, the middle button is used for firing a bomb, but it actually activates a shield. D’oh!
The trick to shoot em ups is that the enemy ships need to be just as ballistic with their shooting, though doing so in different patterns. This can be seen in Energy Storm. Your ship is capable of upgrading once you nab the different bonuses, though the enemy ships always fire single shots.
Perhaps most vexing of all is the different perspectives used during gameplay. You look down on your ship, as well as some of the enemy ships, though the larger ones are depicted as if you were looking straight at them. Random clouds will zip from the bottom of the screen to the top, as if you were falling, and these appear as if you were looking straight at them as well.
The confusing perspectives in this game is like trying to play an endless runner with M.C. Escher’s Relativity as a level.
For the record, I strive to be as open minded and fair as possible when it comes to reviewing apps. I know that apps don’t just appear in the App Store because someone wished them to. A lot of hard work is required of even the simplest app.
