FDG recently released their latest game Parachute Panic [$0.99] into the App Store.
This relatively simple game requires you to land parachutists onto passing boats while avoiding passing helicopters, UFOs and storm clouds. The game is presented with a certain style and humor that gives it a lot of charm. That innocent impression, however, can be a bit deceptive as the game is certainly no calk walk.
After you are thrown a few easy landings, it starts getting pretty frantic pretty quickly. Storm clouds and moving boats were my particular weaknesses in trying to elevate my score.
The game was getting compared to Flight Control from the moment it was previewed. While those are hard shoes to fill, it’s easy to see why the comparisons are made. Both are similarly exercises in chaos management, but yet they feel entirely different. Flight Control involved long stretches of careful route-planning interrupted by moments of sheer panic, while Parachute Panic involves a lot more action from the get go.
Tapping multiple times on helicopters and UFOs will destroy them, while swiping left/right/up/down generate gusts of wind to direct your parachutists. You can only lose 5 of them before it’s game over. The video shows how the game works and looks identical to the final game:
Parachute Panic has its own pace and style that do make it an enjoyable game, but I can’t yet tell if it will have as long a lasting appeal as the previous iPhone kings of casual gaming. But in the meanwhile, at only $0.99, it offers some cheap fun on your iPhone.
App Store Link: Parachute Panic, $0.99
