My favorite part of the App Store is seeing some of the more ridiculous and absurd ideas from smaller developers come to fruition, and as soon as I saw the trailer from Astro Crash I was overwhelmed with an abundance of questions as to what I was actually looking at in the video. Seeing a giant kitty-shaped spaceship, dubbed the ‘Lightning Cat’, flying around the screen and crashing into other opposing vessels in a colorful, extraterrestrial environment may appear to be absurd, but in reality looks like a lot of fun and a strong App Store debut for ex-Halfbrick developers Affable Games. Astro Crash is set to launch for free on June 1st, however you can sign up for the beta test on our forums if you simply can’t wait to cause comical chaos on your iPhone.
Beneath its humorous exterior, Astro Crash actually has some particularly distinctive gameplay elements, as it looks to position itself as a 2D Katamari-esque title with some neat 60s arcade retro features. With one of over twenty spaceships to choose, from the aforementioned Lightning Cat to the Space Skull and the Love Ship, you’re tasked with crashing into smaller spaceships to collect their damaged parts and slowly build your own craft into a colossus of the stars. The trailer showcases some of the bizarre misshapen vessels that can be formed through numerous collisions, and while there may be some question marks over how far this core mechanic can carry the game, Astro Crash epitomises the idiosyncratic qualities that make the App Store a breath of fresh air in the video games industry. Watch out for the game when it launches on June 1st, and if you’re interested, sign up for the Astro Crash beta test on our forums.
