In mid-November, True Axis finally released Space Tripper [$3.99] into the App Store. This was a big deal for a couple of reasons. First, Space Tripper was a straight up awesome indie shoot ’em up that released a decade ago, and not only does it hold up extremely well today but it also makes a fantastic fit for the iOS platform. The second reason Space Tripper‘s release was a big deal was that the development of the port hit just about every type of snag you can think of, and with what seemed like a black cloud looming over the game’s progress there was a strong possibility it would never see the light of day on the App Store.

However, determination won over, and even though it took more than 3 years True Axis completed their goal of releasing Space Tripper for iOS. And spoiler alert: it kicks major ass, as evidenced in our review. But it wasn’t all happy times and rainbows, as the one glaring omission from Space Tripper was any sort of option for touch controls. As it stood, the game only offered a tilt control scheme.

Now, I’m lukewarm at best towards tilt controls most of the time, but Space Tripper was different. The tilt controls feel wonderful, and by now I couldn’t imagine playing the game any other way. But I know that not everybody will have this sort of same epiphany, and there are other gamers who either are suffering through a control scheme that they don’t like or even worse have avoided Space Tripper altogether based solely on its tilt controls. True Axis knows this too, and that is why they have moved quickly to bring a relative touch control scheme to Space Tripper, which you can see demonstrated in the video below.

So there you go touch control enthusiasts, you’re finally getting your wish. If the lack of touch controls was preventing you from picking up Space Tripper, then soon enough you will have no excuse. Despite being a tilt control convert with this game, I myself am looking forward to giving the touch controls a try, just to see what they’re like. Also being wrapped up into this update is an auto calibration option for the tilt controls and a new Easy mode for the campaign. The 1.1 update for Space Tripper is currently submitted to Apple and is awaiting review, so you should keep your eye out for it to hit in the next week or two with any luck.