[Editor's note: After reviewing X-Plane, your intrepid editor's son discovered MiniSquadron, and asked if we would let him write another review. Who are we to turn down such willing help? Enjoy!]
As you can probably tell from my last review, I love planes. I also love arcade games. When you combine the
two, you have me hooked. In MiniSquadron, you pilot a fighter plane in a cartoon world filled with ducks,
seagulls, and enemy fighters of all varieties. Your job is to defeat the waves of enemies as they come in,
collecting power-ups and unlocking new planes along the way.
At the beginning of the game, you only have a choice of one plane and one destination to do your fighting.
Initially on the first level you are only faced with ducks for enemies, presumably so you can get used to the
controls. But don’t worry, planes are coming, and they fight back! (There are also more ducks thrown into the mix, just to confuse you, but they haven’t fought back yet.)
Clever graphics make the game visually interesting, and the enemy squadrons keep your attention with
different abilities and using varying levels of skill against you. Defeating levels gives you access to more
locations and fighter aircraft. There are 56 available planes (including a flying pitchfork!) and 8 locations.
The controls feel smooth and tight. You get virtual joystick for your left thumb, and the fire button is under your right thumb. The controls are not flight simulator style controls—you drag your finger on the virtual pad in the direction you want to go on screen at the moment, which is very different from a flight sim. That said, I got the hang of it in the first few minutes and was soon shooting through the levels.
You do have to be careful where you fly. If you fly too high, your plane stalls, and you have to recover by
turning the plane in the direction of the fall. And if you fly too low, you’ll crash into the ground. Three lost
planes, and the game is over.
Getting achievements is rewarding, as you get power-ups that can help you through some of the more difficult
levels. I found the rapid fire power-up most useful; some power-ups were just fun to have, and others saved
my life right when it counted.
This game has top-notch graphics, playability, and sound effects. I highly recommend it, but be warned: it ’s
very addictive. It’s definitely one of the best arcade games I’ve played for the webOS!
Link: http://developer.palm.com/blog/2010/09/pdk-hot-apps-minisquadron/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+pdnblog+%28Palm+Developer+Connection+Blog%29&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail
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