Super Arc Light is a simple, downloadable arcade style shooter for iOS devices and Google Play (reviewed on iPad here). It’s similar to classic 80’s shooters like Gyruss or Tempest, where you zap enemies in a circular fashion.  But what makes Super Arc Light unique is that you only need to tap the screen to control all functions of your ship!

Here’s how it works. When you start the game, your ‘ship,’ which is just a dot, keeps moving around in a circle.  When you tap on the touch screen and hold down, your ship will start firing its weapon continuously.  But it also makes the ship slow down quite a bit.  When you lift your finger from the touch screen, your ship will stop firing and begin circling in the opposite direction.  So all you have to do is tap and release your finger to shoot and control your ship.  But like most good arcade games, it’s easy to learn, yet hard to master!

Enemy ships (or shapes) will close in on you in waves. When they turn red, you know they’ll charge at you, so you must shoot them quickly before that happens.  When one of the enemy ships touches your circle at the center of the screen, it’s Game Over.  The game saves your highest score.  As you play, you’ll unlock power-ups.  These will appear from time to time during the game, and if you shoot the power-up icon, you can get a special weapon you can use for a limited time.  These include twin lasers, spread shots, ion beams, and much more!

While I enjoyed the simple, arcade style gameplay, I still had trouble with the controls sometimes, as it’s hard to judge when you need to start shooting and changing direction. But I’m not really good at these kinds of games anyway.  Also, the enemies seems a bit unpredictable, sometimes turning red and charging long before you’d have time to react.  But otherwise, it’s still a neat little arcade game that you can play with one hand and it has a slick soundtrack, too.

Kid Factor:

Even though you’re shooting things, it’s all just abstract geometric shapes so the violence is hardly existent. Reading skill is helpful for some of the text, but not needed as the game is pretty easy to figure out just by playing.  Younger players may find it a bit difficult later on, though.

Tags: Game Reviews