iTuesday Review: iFighter 1945

Normally, the antics of this segment’s author, Eric, would adorn this iTuesday review, but alas, I have banished him to a eternity of darkness and pain! Actually, I think he went on vacation, but to be honest, it might as well be pain and darkness.

This iTuesday’s review was played through the iPhone Game iFighter 1945 from Epicforce Entertainment, an homage to 80’s top down platformer/shooters. In this iFighter variation, there is no story line. It’s downright start and wax some Germans and beat the level without exploding. Surprising for such a simple game, I found myself playing it more and more and especially after the recent update. Often, when I would be bored riding a bus somewhere, at the hospital, or wasting time in between jobs, you could hear the faint cursing and complaints of “those d*** Jerries shot me down again!” Most of the time, the only stares that bothered me were from children, and something about swearing at Germans.

Down to brass tacks, iFighter 1945 is a must-have for all those arcade junkies out there.  For the free price tag that I snagged it for on a “free Thursday” at the app store, the better my attitude was about some of the downfalls this game has. The most annoying was that your plane is constantly firing its guns, showering the entire screen with little bullets. I feel the game would be a more polished if it utilized a trigger button on one of the bottom corners for thumb-use, and your other index finger would control your movement on the screen. Another thing that irked me was the load times, sometimes taking a few minutes on a 3GS.

For free, the game is worth its space on your mac product (39.6MB, and sorry Droid fans, this is a Mac developed game from what I could gather) but I could not see myself paying anything more than the standardized .99 cents on this title. I would be interested in spinoffs of this title, and I’m surprised more has not been developed. For those who are not keen on history, some of the greatest air battles did take place during WWII- but they were all in the Pacific Theater versus the Japanese; by 1945 Hitler’s Luftewaffe was in shambles, and virtually non-existant.

Despite a few flaws and timing miscalculations, iFighter brings a lot to the table, like a bird’s eye platformer should: bosses (Nazi war machine prototypes) that are relentless and have unique abilities and weaknesses; a choice of firepower; 8 unique stories; and since the update, two more planes have been added to the hangar. This brings the number to 5 planes with 3 types of difficulty. So, keep your eyes peeled for it to be on the free download of the day, or break down and pay the dollar.  You won’t be disappointed for the action and entertainment that iFighter1945 delievers.

Final Rating 8/10

CBR Breakdown:

Console Played On: iPhone 3GS

Approximate Time of Completion: 3-5 Hours

Price Bought at: FREE

Price Currently: $0.99

Recommended Purchase Price: $0-$0.99