Space Terror Review

Developer: Stache Bits
Price: FREE
Version: 1.2
App Reviewed on: iPhone 4s

Graphics / Sound Rating: Rating:
Game Controls Rating: Rating:
Gameplay Rating: Rating:
Replay Value Rating: Rating:

Overall Rating:

Space Terror is a casual arcade game that challenges players to use quick reflexes to defend Earth from incoming meteors and alien warships. Although the game's systems and mechanics are quite simple, there a enough things about Space Terror that make it worth checking out.

Each round of Space Terror has players controlling the Earth, and rotating it such that aliens are destroyed by a death ray and meteors bounce of a protective shield. As time passes, more and more ships and meteors fly toward Earth, requiring players to increasingly be more responsive to all potential threats.

While all of this is happening, there is also a small purple meter at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. Touching this meter speeds up the game, making it more difficult. The reason why a player would want to do this is that speeding up the game offers opportunities for more rewards upon the completion of a round, and manual use of the meter offsets its automatic deployment.

Yep, that's right: automatic deployment. If, while playing Space Terror, the purple meter reaches full, the game speeds up to its break-neck pace until the purple meter is completely drained. Then, the process starts all over again. The lesson here is simple: It is easier to manage mayhem when activated periodically by choice, rather than waiting for mayhem to unleash itself in full. That being said, completely avoiding the activation of the dreaded purple meter in Space Terror is practically impossible, so it's up to the player to decide how they want to deal with the speed change.

As players miss meteors or get attacked by aliens, the Earth takes damage, and when enough damage is sustained, a game over screen appears. From here, points are tallied, coins are awarded, and players can begin anew. The benefit of getting more coins at the end of each round also awards players the opportunity to purchase upgrades and power-ups to help them dive deeper and deeper into the mayhem each round.

Overall, Space Terror is pretty good. It's not a tremendously deep experience, but it does offer some unique gameplay systems that keep it from feeling like some sort of stale clone. It also has a kind of goofy 50s sci-fi aesthetic that is moderately appealing. For the price of "free" it's totally worth checking out.