It wasn’t even two weeks ago that we got our first early glimpse of Bit Quake, a new bite-sized arena shooter from developer Happy Doze who are currently working on multiplayer platformer Planet Runners. The game had a very clear Downwell ($2.99) inspiration with its portrait orientation, virtual control setup, and between level upgrade options. Which is certainly not a bad thing as Downwell is fabulous, and I was eager to see an arena shooter take on that style of game. Well I sure didn’t have to wait long! Bit Quake ($2.99) quietly snuck into the App Store this past weekend, and there’s even a slick new trailer that shows just what it’s like in action.

I’ve only managed to spend a few minutes with Bit Quake so far, but I’m super in love with it. The controls work just fine assuming you’re comfortable with the whole Downwell-esque “virtual buttons at the bottom of the screen in portrait mode" thing, which after dozens upon dozens of hours playing Downwell, I most certainly am. The developer is also looking into adding MFi controller support, which might be a bit awkward for iPhone players due to the portrait orientation but I could see it being a huge deal for iPad gamers with controllers. There’s a few quirks to the game that have been brought up in its discussion thread in our forums that Happy Doze is also looking into smoothing out, but if you at all like the look of Bit Quake based on the trailer above I think you’ll get your two bucks’ worth of enjoyment out of it already, so feel free to dive on in!