In our attempt to bring you the best iPhone game reviews, the AppSmile Team has come across one gem that should not be overlooked. Aera, the much-anticipated, side-scrolling, casual flight simulator game from iChromo, has finally hit the app store and it does not disappoint. Beautiful graphics, fluid animation, and terrific controls combine to create an enjoyable experience, whether you are shooting down aircraft or simply taking a scenic flight.
Aera contains four planes (three unlockable) with which to traverse the skies over three locations (two unlockable). You can fly your plane in any of several missions: Aerobatic/Solo, Dog Fight, Race, or Free Flight. Aerobatic/Solo tasks you to fly the plane while collecting a specified number of floating objects within a pre-determined amount of time. You’ll need to be quick and accurate as you fly through rings and avoid hovering mines as you follow the path of balls to success. Dog Fight pits you against another plane. Shoot him down before he shoots you down. To help you accomplish this, you have guns with unlimited ammunition, as well as a limited stock of rockets. A destroyed enemy will rain bonus boxes upon the land. Snag these boxes to pick up points, rockets, and the like. Race, as you might have guessed, is a timed flight mission where you’ll need to avoid the mines if you want to survive. If you prefer to just enjoy the controls or check out the scenery, you can also choose Free Flight to get your fix. You can either play in Campaign mode or Quick Play, choosing from Easy, Medium, and Hard difficulty levels.
Even though the screen you’re playing on is 2D, a polished 3D feel is well delivered. Listen to the propeller and explosion sounds as these are nicely accurate sounding. Since Aera is more of a simulator than an arcade-style game, no background music is provided. One of our favorite features is the control mechanism. The majority are handled by the iPhone’s accelerometer, just tilt it to change the altitude. Shake it quickly to cause a 180 degree flip. Use any of the on-screen buttons to fire, speed up or slow down, boost, or change viewing cameras. All options are appropriately arranged in an uncluttered manner. An in-game walk-through and tutorial are offered to bring you a little experience before venturing out on your own.
Features abound in Aera. The “TimeBack” aspect will auto-reverse time if you nail an object. This give you the chance to try your hand at that section of the game again. Essentially, this gives you the opportunity to continue playing without starting from the beginning of the level. The AppSmile Team was glad to have this helpful feature. If you want to evaluate your flight, you can do so by watching the video replay of your completed mission. No online play exists except for local wi-fi multiplayer. Dual or Capture the Flag mode are your options here. Sensitivity can be adjusted in the Configuration menu. A Prediction line can also be turned on and off here. The Prediction line is a virtual path you will take if you remain at the current altitude and speed.
Aera perfectly marries a flight simulator, side scroller, and arcade flier like no other app in the App Store. We had great fun in especially with Dog Fight mode. If you’re goal oriented, you might just like Solo mode the best. in fact, excellent game presentation exists in any mode. Our team can remember too many iPhone game reviews that brought us as much fun. Its obvious that the Aera developers at iChromo spent a lot of time in the details. We will be playing this gem for a long time due to the smooth and entertaining gameplay. Plus, doing so will earn several Achievements such as the aforementioned unlockable aircraft and locations. With a price of $0.99, picking up Aera is a no-brainer for any iPhone game fan.
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