Flying Aces (Updated 1/2/2010)

One of my first iPod Touch purchases was a game called Flight Control, a game which Sticky Coding's Flying Aces clearly uses as a model. So much so that the main landing screen is identical in layout with its two runways and helicopter port. Flight Control is an OUTSTANDING game and was among the first types of games I searched for when I got my Droid. Flying Aces was one of the two games similar in nature that I found.

In Flying Aces you are managing an airport. Jumbo Jets, Prop Planes, and Helicopters are all on the way in increasing numbers and it's your job to plot a path to the landing strip and safely land each plane before a collision occurs. Play is done simply by pointing at a plane on the touch screen and dragging to create a line to the proper runway (hence the genre being called 'line drawing' games). Jumbo Jets must land on the longest runway, Prop plans on the other (shorter) runway, and Helicopters must land on the helicopter pad with the big H stamped on it.

While dragging a series of Xs are displayed on the screen as you continue to drag. These turn into lines once complete with a yellow line indicating a path that will land the plane and a white line just indicating where a plane is headed.

As new planes arrive an off screen alert is displayed to assist in minimize uncontrollable accidents at the edge of the screen. Furthermore, there are also other objects to avoid or collect as additional points.

Flying Aces has been regularaly updated and I'm pleased to see the game improve from something that was frustrating to play due to poor control to a very enjoyable game. One issue that still persists is that when I drag a path often the plane feels the need to do a U-turn first before following my path adding seconds to its landing time as I try to queue several planes up for landings. Finally, the graphics... despite all of the extra pixels on my Droid... feel blown up compared to the original Flight Control (i.e. the planes are bigger and puffier). That's not entirely a bad thing... if I'd never played Flight Control I wouldn't know the difference.

Fortunately, the developer does offer a trial version that allows you to play the game for a short while and they also appear to update this app on a regular basis. I'm hopeful that one day the control will recognize the fact that I probably don't want the plane's first move to be a U-Turn. In the meantime the game offers and enjoyable alternative for Flight Control for Android owners.