Roswell Fighter Reloaded Review

Roswell Fighter Reloaded (out now, $0.99) is another action arcade game where you must protect the planet from invading aliens. I don’t usually like highscore games, especially ones that you can only play in portrait, but I found RFR surprisingly addictive.

mzl.zxbjrasb.480x480-75Before you fire against such alien spaceships, you must choose a plane from a very retro-style menu. There’s one that is playable by default and two more which you must buy via in-app purchases for 99 cents each. That really sucks because you’ve spent a dollar on the game already, so all of the content should be available.

You control the plane by dragging it around not just sideways, but anywhere around the screen. It shoots upwards automatically so all you ever need is one finger sliding across your screen, making the game much easier to handle on the iPhone.

There is a range of upgrades, special weapons, and bombs that are applied to your plane automatically as you swipe it over gold stars. There are grey stars too, but they don’t add anything unique to the gameplay so I deem them as useless and ineffective. When your plane is maxed out with three lines of bullets, two wing-guns, and three more huge bombs, this is where the gameplay really shines. Your plane looks badass as it causes carnage throughout the level. It feels awesome swiping around a fountain-like feature of bullets and bombs.

mzl.hubcvqyk.480x480-75However, it’s not as easy as it sounds. The aliens shoot against you (which makes the later levels much harder and more interesting), so their bullets can sneak their way through your fountain of awesomeness and hit your plane. You have a set number of lives before you enter the campaign, with each one lost as your plane empties its health. But the fact that you can lose all your lives and simply re-enter the level from the menu takes away the running challenge of the game.

The graphics and soundtrack work very well together. Both are retro and nothing fancy, but they do keep you entertained enough to keep playing. Roswell Fighter Reloaded also features 6 huge bosses throughout the 11 handcrafted levels, and a few mini-games that up the gameplay time just a little more.

iFanzine Verdict: There are many similar action arcade shooters available, proving heavy competition for Roswell Fighter Reloaded. What makes it stand out from the rest and worth your dollar is the surprisingly addictive gameplay. The ability to swipe your plane around the whole screen as you watch explosions occur in each and every corner should justify $1.