High Space Is Not Your Ordinary Side-Scrolling Shooter
At first glance, High Space might seem like another run-of-the-mill space shooter. But upon closer inspection, it’s actually an arcade avoidance game that lets you teleport and slow down time and, if you happen to come across the right power-up, even shoot at aliens while you’re at it.
Created over four years by an independent developer, High Space is a deeply challenging arcade avoidance game that dares you to go as far as you can into space while evading the myriad alien freaks that are intent on getting on your way. To help you on this quest, you have the ability to teleport, to slow down time, and to unlock power-ups.
Teleport
In High Space, your ship automatically moves down and you just have to tap and hold on the right half of the screen to make it move up. Mastering this control is key as it’s imperative that you sustain your flight by following the trail of energy sparks and avoiding the alien freaks scattered along your path. In many cases, the only way out is via teleportation. For that, you just have to let your ship move all the way to the bottom of the screen, whereupon it will reappear at the top. Similarly, you can move your ship to the top to make it reappear at the bottom.
Slow down time
Another special ability you can pull off in High Space is slowing down time, which can be useful when navigating narrow spaces between enemies or when dodging an oncoming obstacle. To slow down time, you just have to hold down on the left half of the screen.
Power up
Would you rather shoot at the pesky aliens than merely avoid them? Well, you can, but to do so, you first have to pick up a shooter power-up from Shiba the astronaut. Some power-ups result in other types of weapons. Others unlock special abilities, such as a magnet that attracts all energy sparks.
While its graphics, sounds, and interface elements could do with some polishing up, High Space has plenty to recommend in terms of its gameplay. It notably features space-time manipulation, but this is by no means a crutch that ensures ease of progression. Rather, the use of this ability is integrated throughout the game, so that what seems to be an impossibly tight situation is actually nothing that can’t be overcome by the slowing down of time, by teleportation, or by a clever combination of the two. It also features a variety of power-ups that can be picked up along the way, different types of aliens with different strengths and weaknesses, and even some exciting boss fights.
Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, High Space is available now on the App Store for the special half-off launch price of $0.99. Note that although it’s a paid download, the game includes ads, which you can opt to watch to revive your ship after losing energy.
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