Originally released as a lite version and downloaded more than 1.8 million times, the full version of EpicForce’s iFighter has finally been released to the app store, and it doesn’t disappoint. As a WWII flying ace, your objective is to destroy the many secret stashes of Nazi weapons while avoiding ground and aerial assaults. With its rocking original soundtrack and crisp graphics, this vertical 2D shooter has zoomed in and blasted the competition out of the sky.

iFighter features three control options, some of which have become a point of contention among gamers. Your plane maneuvers via swipe, joypad, or motion (accelerometer-based) controls. Sensitivity and calibration options are available to tweak motion controls to your satisfaction. While joypad controls are fairly consistent, swipe controls leave something to be desired. A quick swipe often sends the plane much farther across the screen than one might expect. It can be difficult to line up your auto-firing plane with oncoming enemies, resulting in a frustrating experience. Our fingers also prevented us from seeing enemies coming at us from behind. FAIL! Fortunately, the motion controls (our preferred method of control) are well-implemented. The plane scrolls smoothly and at a pace that allows precision aiming and quick avoidance of incoming unfriendly fire.

The three difficulty settings allow for further tweaking of the game and the 4 end-of-level bosses pose a good challenge, especially after your health has been nearly depleted by the war zone you’ve just cleared. Fortunately, you can pick up health bonuses during the course of play, as well as multiple ammunition bonuses and sidekicks, where a smaller plane appears on either side of your plane, blasting enemies and taking fire. Stars and medals that boost your score may also appear after vanquishing the opposition.

Besides the awkward control experienced using swipe, the biggest gripe players have with iFighter is the lack of levels. Hopefully, EpicForce will come through and add more levels than the 4 included in the game. Despite these shortcomings, iFighter has tremendous replayability and a paltry introductory price of $0.99, making it a MUST BUY! We give iFighter our 5-Dimple salute!

iFighter gets our AppSmile 5-Dimple rating: