Sky Force Reloaded, Infinite Dream’s 2006 hit game for various mobile devices recently saw porting onto the iPhone platform. Already a household name, Sky Force Reloaded is actually a sequel to its predecessor, Sky Force. Currently, only Sky Force Reloaded is available on the iPhone.
Sky Force Reloaded is a traditional vertical shoot’em up with no storyline. The game focuses on shooting as many enemy aircraft and vehicles as possible, with each level ending with a boss-battle that ranges from one single boss to sometimes two.
One of the criterias to complete a certain stage in the game is the percentage of objects destroyed – failing to do so results in players being greeted with the usual statistics and a very helpful ‘Game Over’. Adding challenge to this is the fact that some bigger enemy crafts may leave the battlefield if you do not destroy them in time.
Players may begin new games from any of the eight stages that they have completed. Unlike other shooters where you usually begin with a pea-shooter, picking up powerups to upgrade your firepower as you progress, the game reconfigures your aircraft’s firepower, depending on which level you choose to start. For instance, if you choose to start the game from Stage 1, then your aircraft’s firepower would be configured at its lowest level. Starting from Stage 4 gives you upgraded firepower, and so on. If you find yourselves overwhelmed by a certain stage, then try starting the game from an earlier stage. This lets you pick up additional upgrades and power ups which can then be carried over to the new stage. Upgrades range from the usual shield add-on, firepower upgrade and the special weapon.
Humans (I assume they are prisoners of war) are scattered across the battlefield, rescuable by simply flying your aircraft above them. There are three ships to choose from, ranging from slower/more shields to faster/less shields combination. My favourite craft happens to be the balanced one.
Controls are touch-based where players slide their finger across the screen to manuever the ship. The ship appears with a little offset above the finger so as not to be covered. Firing your special weapon (which is basically a more powerful laser beam) is achieved by pressing a button that appears on the lower left corner of the screen. Since the iPhone can detect up to a maximum of five finger taps on its touch screen, firing the special weapon could have been achieved by using two fingers instead.
Game graphics are top-notch. You’ll notice the level of details put into most of the aircraft and vehicles featured. The terrain and its environments are rendered beautifully. Music-wise, the game features a DJ-styled background track.
If you noticed the strip at the bottom of the screen with the game’s name stickied onto it, that’s because the game was directly ported from its original versions. The developers made good use of this area by adding an additional exit game button on the lower right corner.
Sky Force Reloaded is available from the iTunes Store for only $2.99 a copy, which I felt is quite reasonable a price for one of the best vertical shooters around. If you previously owned a copy of this game for another mobile platform, you’ll know that this is probably the best price you’d pay to relive the experience on your iPhone or iPod touch.
Rating: 4.0/5.0 Taps
App Data
App Name: Sky Force Reloaded v1.04 | Developer: Infinite Dreams Inc. | Purchase via: iTunes App Store @ $2.99 | Released: Feb 27, 2009 | Reviewed on: iPod touch v2.2.1
