Price: $1.99 Score: 8.5/10 Category: Games
Jet Raiders is an iPhone game developed by BYTERUSH. Jet Raiders advertises itself as a “more advanced type of arcade shooter game that gives you three different modes of playing, uniquely addictive gameplay and of course, excellent graphics.”
That’s setting the bar mighty high, but Jet Raiders mostly lives up to the hype it creates for itself.
There are a variety of game modes, including a classic flying mode, a time attack, and an infinite mode. However, you’ll need to make some progress on the classic mode before you can unlock the fun of the time attack and infinite modes. (
Annoyingly, these modes aren’t greyed out on the main menu: you have to go to their sub-menu before you’re told whether or not you’ve earned the right to access them.)
Once you’ve taken a spin in the tutorial (or skipped it, which is okay since the controls are super simple), you can pick a plane and head into classic mode. Destroy enough bridges, and you’ll earn the right to move on in the game. You will start out with access to only one plane, but can unlock four more.
Of course, you might struggle to unlock the planes: the first plane’s steering is really loose. While it’s efficient at burning fuel, players are likely to get frustrated by the unresponsive controls of the base model plane.
At least the controls are simple. Tilt left or right to steer (unless you hit one of those dreaded objects that reverses your steering.) The left hand button on your screen is used to fire your missiles, while a matching button on the opposing side of the screen lets you speed up.
While the early rounds may frustrate you, patient players of Jet Raiders will be rewarded with a game that is fun (and controls which feel progressively smoother.)
Jet Raiders is compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), iPod touch (5th generation) and iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later.