Late last month, Big Head Games released iPhone cave-flyer Retro through the iTunes App Store.  Retro debuted at $4.99 but has since dropped in price to 2.99 [link].

For those that want to try before they by, BHG has since released Retro LITE [App Store], a free version of Retro that features the full game's first three levels, playable in both Normal and Hard difficulty modes.

True to the traditions of classic Sci-fi, Retro is set in the near future, our experiments to harvest the Sun´s energy is about to send it supernova, your mission is to rescue scientists stranded on orbiting planets. Retro takes you...deep below the surface of orbiting planets, the super smooth control system allows you to tilt the iPhone to turn the craft, tapping the screen to apply thrust, gliding through the tightest caves to find stranded scientists, keeping one eye on the fuel and shield and the other on the rocky outcrops.

We reviewed Retro shortly after its release and found it to be the App Store's best cave-flyer and an excellent iPhone game in general.  Now there's no excuse not to give it a try.

App Store Link: Retro LITE, Free

The "cave-flyer" is a unique genre of games that MobyGames well describes as follows.

A so-called cave-flyer takes the 360° control method from the venerable Asteroids, adds gravitation and/or inertia, and puts your ship in a landscape with more obstacles than enemies. The most classic example of the genre is Thrust.

Games of the sort have translated particularly well to mobile devices, thanks to their touchscreen controls (be it finger or stylus).  The iPhone and iPod touch take the genre to a whole new level with accelerometer control that is the natural ideal control method for these gravity-based games.

Big Head Games, as promised, has released what is currently the best cave-flyer available in the App Store: Retro [link].

As the story goes, the humans and their reckless experiments have botched things up and put the sun on a fast-track to supernova.  Unfortunately, scientists are trapped in deep science stations carved into the rock of various moons of the planets of our solar system.  And they must be rescued before the sun begins its catastrophic exodus.

Gameplay involves tilting the iPhone left and right to control the pitch of the rescue craft and touching the screen to activate upward thrusters.  The controls are sensitive and allow the skilled pilot to navigate rather treacherous subterranean mazes of rock in a race against the clock, as the demo video illustrates (though a sensitivity settings feature would have been nice).

The game features 23 levels and provides a futuristic soundtrack for those that wish to hear it (it is by default off).

Any fan of the cave-flyer genre will appreciate the challenge and polish that Retro brings to the iPhone. Be warned though--patience and precision are most definitely required.

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

London-based developer Big Head Games has just announced the submission of their new iPhone gravity game / cave-flyer, Retro, to the App Store.

Grabbing the best bits of retro gaming and wrapping them in glorious visuals BHG have produced the perfect game for the iPhone platform. True to the traditions of classic Sci-fi, Retro is set in the near future, our experiments to harvest the Sun´s energy is about to send it supernova, your mission is to rescue scientists stranded on orbiting planets. Retro takes you on 23 missions deep below the surface of orbiting planets, the super smooth control system allows you to tilt the iPhone to turn the craft, tapping the screen to apply thrust, gliding through the tightest caves to find stranded scientists, keeping one eye on the fuel and shield and the other on the rocky outcrops.

The iPhone with its accelerometer control system is an ideal platform for this type of game and we have lamented the lack of solid App Store offerings in this area.  As can be seen from the developer's demo video, BHG seems to have created an impressive looking title that should go a long way to satisfy iPhone gamers that are particular fans of the genre.

Retro should appear in the App Store within the next few days.  Stay tuned for a full review.

Those intrigued by Retro might also enjoy Olivier Pasqualini's G Force [$0.99, App Store].

We reviewed Oliver Pasqualini's cave-flyer G Force [App Store] a few weeks back and liked what we saw but found the game severely crippled by an odd "extended hang time" physics / control quirk.  This is just a quick update to let everyone know that Oliver has not only ironed out the issues with the game's control system in the 1.1 update but has also dropped the App Store price from $3.99 to $1.99.

We can now strongly recommend G Force as a title well worth its price that every iPhone gamer would do well not to miss.

App Store Link: G_Force, $1.99

Oliver Pasqualini has recently released a 2D cave-flyer for the iPhone called G_Force [App Store].  As a particular fan of the genre, I was excited to see the game appear in the App Store and was anxious to try it out.  (I am always hoping for an iPhone title that approximates my all-time favorite mobile game, RocketElite.)  And while G_Force is an otherwise well-designed game, it has one fatal flaw that ruins the feel of what could be a very enjoyable title.

Like the typical cave-flyer, G_Force puts the player in control of a spaceship that must navigate an increasingly intricate system of caves filled with various obstacles (both moving and not) in order to complete a task which, in this case, is the collection of a certain number of gems within a set time limit and with a limited amount of fuel.  The game utilizes the iPhone's accelerometer to control the orientation of the ship and thrust is controlled via touch.

As is the case with most games of this sort, gravity and inertia play an important role--the ship can't just stop on a dime.  And here is where G_Force fails.

In nature (and in most other games of this sort), when an object reaches the top of a parabolic "throw," it hangs slightly at the peak and then begins to descend.  In G_Force, when the ship reaches this point, it is subject to a mysterious, greatly extended sort of hang time.  It inexplicably just hangs at that point on the vertical axis for much longer than it should, before beginning to descend.  (See the video.)  This phenomenon ruins the feel of the gravity / physics situation and makes the game too frustrating to be enjoyably played.

Otherwise, the graphics are simple but sufficient and the game features a particualrly nice soundtrack.  Fortunately, this is a v1.0 release and it is well within the developer's power to fix the physics system such that the ship will respond more "realistically."  Until that happens, iPhone gamers would do well to hold on to their $3.99.