FingerGaming

Rating:

• Price: $4.99 (Get Full Version or Free Lite Demo)
• Version: 1.1
• Official Site: Studio Radiolaris

I had my hopes set irrationally high for Radio Flare. I’m a sucker for rail-based shooters, so I can’t help but get my hopes up when a game is described as being similar to titles like Rez and Panzer Dragoon. Lock-on shooter gameplay seems like a perfect match for the iPhone’s touchscreen, besides, and the promise of synesthetic anything instantly earns my interest in a video game.

In the end, Radio Flare turned out little like I was expecting. The lock-on mechanics are limited, allowing for none of the combo-chaining potential of Panzer Dragoon. The Rez link is also weak, as the music doesn’t really sync with the on-screen action so much as it changes at predetermined points.

However, I still enjoyed Radio Flare immensely. It’s one of the best iPhone games I’ve played so far, and more importantly, it paints a bright future for the shooter genre on the platform.

Radio Flare is a horizontal shooter in looks alone. While your ship moves from left to right and your goal is to destroy every enemy in your path, Radio Flare’s mechanics provide a wholly different experience than what you would find in a typical shooter. Your ship is underpowered, for one thing — your only offensive capability comes in the form of a lock-on laser, which can only target four enemies at a time. There’s a slight delay between targeting and firing, too, meaning that you’ll need to find a rhythm to your destruction if you want to survive.

Gameplay isn’t all about mindless destruction, though. After shooting down enemies, you’ll need to pick up the red flares they leave behind in order to progress through the level. Each level is divided into several sections of progressing difficulty, and it isn’t long until you’ll find yourself struggling to pick up flares while still locking on to incoming enemies.

Movement and lock-on controls are both mapped to the iPhone’s touchscreen, though unlike similar titles like the freeware Space Deadbeef, it’s possible to do both at once. Players are encouraged to use a thumb to move the ship and a finger to target enemies. The dual-touch mechanic soon begins to feel natural, and is well-implemented enough to be fully workable even as the action intensifies on-screen.

It all works so well that it gives me hope for the genre’s future on the platform. Moving the ship around in Radio Flare just feels right. It’s quick, responsive, and save for a few accidentally lost lives in the latter stages, works almost entirely like you’d want it to. The lock-on mechanic is great as well — there’s a kind of natural, organic joy in swiping your finger across a formation of enemies and watching them disappear a few beats later. The delay between the initial swipe and the firing of the lock-on laser is perfectly timed, and while I feel that the resulting musical bursts could have been better executed, the results are always satisfying enough to make you want to keep playing.

The only real issue I have with Radio Flare is one of difficulty. There are only five levels, and while the first three are easy enough, the last two are so challenging that you’ll find yourself replaying them a number of times before you beat them. A more gradual difficulty curve would have been appreciated; the addition of a mid-game set of stages that feature a moderate difficulty level would have been ideal.

Even though you’ll be replaying the final stages many times over, you’ll find yourself pushing for faster completion times in earlier levels as you work your way up, and the included achievement system provides further incentive to keep trying. Despite its minor difficulty issues, Radio Flare remains an excellent shooter, and one that’s well worth your money.

Tags: radio flare, reviews, shooters, studio radiolaris