StarSmasher is an arcade style space shooter in keeping with the StarFox style of game play. Released from Espresso Soft and priced at $2.99, StarSmasher puts you in command of an armed space craft which must dodge asteroids and proximity mines while attempting to shoot down enemy space craft.

Star Smasher was updated to 1.01 on the day it was released and verion 1.02 will be out soon. It’s unfortunate that the developer released the game before it was ready because StarSmasher could have been a great iPhone game. Unfortunately, I’m left to review StarSmasher 1.01 which has some substantial problems.

The game play in StarSmasher is pretty straight forward. Tilt your iPhone to control you ship and tap or tap-hold to fire. Asteroids and will fly towards you ship at an unrelenting rate while you dodge mines and attempt to shoot down ships which fly past you and towards you. Although, the game lacks a lot of depth it could be fun if it worked well. The problem is, it doesn’t.

I encountered a fair number of bugs and frame rate issues with StarSmasher. Sometimes my weapon wouldn’t fire and other times I couldn’t control the ship. Considering those are the only two things you do in StarSmasher they should both work pretty much all the time.

In addition to the control issues StarSmasher has a number of other problems. First, the version I reviewed had no options menu. You start the game and tap to begin. When you’re done the credits roll, followed by the high scores and that’s it. At this point you can hit the iPhone home button or tap to play again. Version 1.02 of StarSmasher is reported to have an options menu, so I’ll let you know how that turns out when released. The second problem with StarSmasher is the lack of level structure or pacing. You start the game and shoot at stuff till your games over. It’s repetitive, boring and lacks the obvious ability to save or continues ones progress. The last thing I’ll say about StarSmasher is that its graphics and overall production value are very low. The splash screens, credit roll, fonts, and in game assets could use a lot of work.

StarSmasher is a great idea which had the basis for some truly compelling gameplay. Unfortunately, StarSmasher suffers from usability problems, doesn’t feel finished and lacks a lot of features. I will keep my eye on updates from Espresso Soft but as it stands I would recommend you steer clear of StarSmasher.

By: Aaron Robbins