For consoles, this type of on-rails game doesn’t always work well, but on iOS devices, its unstoppable nature fits the technology perfectly.
Stay Alive soon has you hooked, playing over and over again, and after a short while you’re an expert pilot, zooming all over the place, weaving shooting and dodging for hours on end.
The speed of the ship is set and constant, so you can concentrate fully on maneuvering around the screen and firing weapons.
Stay Alive screenshots
On the far left of the display is a slider interface that steers the ship. Moving your finger up and down on the slider makes your craft rise and fall with ease and the controls are very sensitive, which can take some getting used to.
On the right hand side are tap controls that fire your cannon, allowing you to destroy enemies and asteroids alike, carving out a clear path through the cosmos.
You’ll start with a limited number of shots, but you will collect more along your journey. You also have shields, but these aren't impenetrable and will start to fail once you’ve been hit a few times.
There are lots of power-ups to be had. There are boosters that make you invulnerable for short periods, as well as bonus slot machines that shell out random gifts of orbs, health boosts, shields and ammo. The game’s mega laser mode is great. It turns your cannon into a powerful and destructive laser beam that turns its victims into orbs for you to collect. As you progress through the game and upgrade your ship further, you’ll get drawn further and further into addiction.
The 2D art in this game is well crafted and offers a cool retro feel, with nice colours and effects. The soundtrack is also retro, and its chip-tunes add a great vibe. The frantic game play alongside the cool retro feel means Stay Alive is a real stand-out game. The fact it’s free means you’ll just have to try it out.
Stay Alive infects you with the “one more go” bug, because not only do you have to avoid as many enemies and asteroids as you can, but you also have to collect as many orbs as possible so you can spend them on upgrading your ship and buying more ammo for the next round.
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