Siberian Strike

There used to be a time when shoot em ups… or schmups, ruled the arcades. That was before everything became DDR clones… or actually, before arcades pretty much became obsolete. I can’t tell you how many quarters and hours I’ve spent on games like 1942, Time Pilot, and all the other flying schumps.

That old familiar pull came back strong with the latest release from gameloft, Siberian Strike. And, just like in the arcades, I couldn’t resist and the next thing I knew, I was looking down on airplanes and trying to stay alive.

Siberian Strike is definitely a throwback to types of games I’ve mentioned above. Game play is pretty simple. You fly a plane that takes on what seems to be a limitless supply of enemies working your way to a boss battle to end each of the levels (has anyone ever wondered how the bad guys seem to have thousands of minions and the good guys seem to have just one?). Knocking out an entire squadron of ships will release a power up that will make things easier.

In Siberian Strike the big battle is over some crazy vodka that’s about to be unleashed on the world from Russian and their leader, a hybrid of man and machine called… wait for it… Stalinbot! How can you not get behind a plot like that?!

I’ve loved the games that have come out on the App Store, but never have I had the feeling like I was playing an actual arcade game… until now. Siberian Strike is exactly like the games I was pumping quarters into all through the 80′s and 90′s, and the game play is just as satisfying.

That’s not to say that we’re talking about a perfect game here… or even the best game in the store. It’s just that I think it’s exactly what it sets out to be and I played this game through the story mode the moment it finished downloading – having a great time the entire way.

Graphically I think this game is wonderful. I said that it has the feel of an arcade game and it’s the look that really cements that feeling. From the planes to the stuff on the ground, it’s all great and colorful. There were a few times that I noticed a little slowdown in the frame rate, but it’s not overly noticeable and we are talking a lot of stuff on the screen.

Sound is another big plus for the game. Of course you’re going to have a lot of sound effects with the shots and explosions, and the game does a good job with those. But I really wasn’t thinking about the voice acting when I started playing and I was really impressed with that aspect. There’s nothing like a fun, fake Russian accent to bring back the cold war (in a good way).

The only thing really missing with this game is a joystick. I like the controls, but man I wish I had a joystick and a fire button. The game comes with two control settings, tilt control and touch control. Tilt has a very fluid feel to it, but I found it harder to use because there is so much on the screen that you need to change directions on the fly (nice pun, eh?). The touch control allows you to move around easier, but it comes with a con of having your finger on the screen, blocking a bit of the screen. This last part didn’t bother me, but I can see that it would affect some players.

The game has three pilots that you can use and each plane has different unlockable skins. There are also different levels you can unlock to add to replay factor. Another bit I loved was that two of the levels are from behind the plane and you have to fly through a basic obstacle course of sorts, shooting as you go.

There’s only a few downers for this game, hopefully to get a little fixing in updates. The two major ones are in the hit detection aspect. It’s hard at times to see the enemy’s shots. They are pink and light blue and they get lost in the clouds at times. And there were times that I knew I wasn’t hit but the game said I was (isn’t that the lament of every gamer?).

I would also like to see more of this game. It’s not that the game is too short, I just had such a good time with it that I wanted more of it. I’d be thrilled to see a few more levels work there way into the game. Perhaps we haven’t seen the end of Stalinbot!

Again, I think that Siberian Strike is the first true arcade experience I’ve had with my iPhone. When you’re looking at a game and the worst you can come up with is that you want more of it… you know you’ve got a winner on your hands. Take That Stalinbot!

The Good

Very Fun Shooter
Story Mode & Voice Acting Very Fun
Great Arcade Look

The Bad

Hit Detection Is Suspect
Some May Not Like Controls
Price Might Scare Some Off

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Tags: Siberian Strike, Siberian Strike Iphone, Siberian Strike Review

Category: Games