Studio Fung Fung clearly knows what the hell they’re doing. Mini Squadron is an addictive little experience reminiscent of PC’s Altitude. The 9-year-veteran developer displays knowledge of what’s fun and how to keep it fun. Here is someone who’s coded for Microsoft, Lionhead, Sony, and worked on the Fable series.

And here’s them settling down and finding their own niche. You see, when you give a developer that free space and allow them to work on whatever they truly desire, the results are often profound, addictive experiences that drag in your mind even as you go about your daily activities. That’s not to say there aren’t a couple of complaints, but for the fun this game supplies, I’ll deal with them.

Gameplay

You’re a plane shooting down other planes, birds, bombers, UFOs, etc. for your enjoyment. With easy to pick up controls and fast-paced reliable gameplay, Mini Squadron is simply a blast. There are a wide variety of planes (56 in total) to choose from, each with different stats and attributes. Included are 8 regions, each with varying waves of enemies that get increasingly challenging, so the game is sure to keep you occupied for hours. Yes, hours!

Also included in the title is multiplayer, offered through Wi-Fi connection. While playing with friends turns out to be a enjoyable, playing alone is one of the most challenging experiences I’ve had on the iPhone. Sometimes the game felt unforgiving in its difficulty and chucking my iPhone out the window was a natural reaction, (as Newton’s law did state, every action has an equal and opposite reaction…) but I obviously didn’t because the iPhone rules. In any case, I spent an hour on the first region ALONE and found myself restarting at waves repeatedly. With the ability to start at the recently saved waves, rather than having to start all over from the beginning, Fung Fung clearly had the player in mind.

The game also offers a ton of power-ups which range from adding to your score to making you invincible for a small duration of time to gaining an extra life. The trick is that these power-ups go both ways, meaning you’re not the only one able to pick them up, so are your enemies. Understandably so, when playing with friends this mechanic adds excellently as you find yourself yelling at your buddies for having picked up what you were only millimeters away from.

Style

I love the style of Mini Squadron the most. Its colors resonate with the gameplay very well. Still, they are reminiscent of Altitude, but playing this type of game on the iPhone/iPod Touch is an entirely separate experience. The number of different planes have different colors and designs. I found myself to be quite the collector and had lots of fun trying out the planes, finding my favorites.

Story

If there was even a story in Mini Squadron, I have completely missed it. Just shoot anything in your sight down and make sure not to get shot down yourself.

Everything Else

A little frustration dawned on me regarding the stall mechanic in which you have to lean the iPhone toward the direction which you are stalling. The mechanic is difficult to get used to and still screws me over from time to time. My other complaint is about the music. While I certainly enjoy classical music, I felt the game needed something more light-hearted and could have obtained it from elsewhere. Sure, the classical music is free to use but I’m sure there are some willing artists who wish to contribute their work.

The bottom line is that Mini Squadron is extreme fun. It’s one of the best handheld titles and truly controls like a dream, save for a few mechanics. Studio Fung Fung’s game is worth the $2.99 if this is the type of game you’re looking for, especially if you enjoyed Altitude on the PC.