Terminal Velocity ($2.99) is one of those games I vaguely remember playing from my childhood. It’s something my uncle may have brought over once, and ended up leaving in my PC, allowing me to play it for an extended period of time. But even after all that gametime, it sort of went in and out of my memory banks, and after playing it recently on a mobile device, I can see why.
It’s not that Terminal Velocity is a bad game by any means, it’s just not as memorable as some other classics of the time, such as Descent, which arrived in the exact same year in the US. It’s a tried and true arcade flight simulation, which thankfully is getting a proper revival on mobile devices. Terminal Velocity isn’t content with pushing tons of toggles and options on you — instead, you’ll simply control your speed, and occasionally shoot things, no flight degree needed.
There’s no real physics involved as your ship can turn on a dime, and you’ll be able to hover and stop whenever you want. It’s a breeze to learn with the touch controls, much less with the included MFi controller support. You can customize the controls which is nice, but sadly there’s no option to tweak the sensitivity in any way.
This is indeed a straight port with smoothed over visuals, which means all seven weapon types, nine planets, and 27 stages are intact. It’s a shame that nothing extra was added, but at a $2.99 pricepoint it’s not like you’re breaking the bank. The biggest issue with the lack of changes has to be the menu screen however, which does not feel intuitive on a touch device, and often triggers unwanted options or missions.
When I say that Velocity is arcade-influenced, I mean it. Most of your objectives are going to involve blowing up enemy craft and blowing up enemy buildings, so don’t expect a grandiose plotline or a deep mission structure. The real fun is had with flying around the classic landscapes, joyriding and discovering new areas that range from flat plains to towering mountain ravines. It’s repetitive for sure, but there’s a certain charm involved with the simplistic visual style and the way the game was designed. Thankfully this is an officially licensed port from the original developers, and has no IAP chicanery of any kind.
If you have fond memories of Terminal Velocity or other ’90s flight simulators, you can relive your glory days on your mobile device with little to no issues. For those of you who won’t be sporting a pair of rose-tinted glasses, the experience hasn’t really held up over the years. Except that music of course — those tracks are ingrained in my brain and won’t come out.
