Review Score:

Such a simple concept works great with an iPhone and iPod Touch. Flight Control isn’t complicated at all. In fact, it’s rather easy to get into and gradually you’ll find things get more intense but the concept remains the same. Whilst a typical game may only last me maybe five or ten minutes (until I can actually really master this), I am wanting to replay and beat my high score. It’s the perfect app if you’re on the go. At a special offer price of 59p on the iTunes (UK) store, this is quite the game and certainly worth it.

The game sets you out on a mission to direct flights to their appropriate landing points. There’s a long runway (pink) for the bigger planes, a small runway (yellow) for the small planes and a helipad. You direct these to the correct landing points. Simple. Doing this is done by placing your finger on the plane and then dragging (this forms a line) to the path you want it to go at. Connecting your path to the correct point will allow for it to eventually land. For every landing, you get a point and as you progress things become more hectic. It is important to pay attention to everything, plan the routes and ensure there are no collisions in the airspace.

There are small things I like about Flight Control. Notice how some of the bigger planes are faster? So, if you’ve got several planes all going for the runway, you need to take into consideration what one should be directed first and try to direct others away if they are getting too close. Planes getting close is never a good thing. Thankfully, you are alerted quite clearly to the ones that are in close proximity. If you’re quick with the finger, you can direct planes away from each other and somehow get them to eventually land. There are planes and helicopters popping up all over. They come from any of the four sides and are indicated, to let you know you’ve got something on the way. Things tends to be a little tricky when the airspace is becoming limited due to the amount there is. Helicopters often spawn near the helipad I find and so they’re not usually the victims of a crash. It’s the smaller, slower planes that can often wreck your game and make you a little mad. However, it’s a quick outburst for me and I am back replaying, hoping to beat my previous score. This is what makes this so addicting.

Whilst I only have 65 points, I shall sometime beat that I hope and maybe even break into the hundreds. It does seem limitless and I would be curious to know what the top scores are. On the current version, you only have access to your own stats (planes landed, average, type of plane that crashes the most, high score) but in a future update, there will be some needed enhancements. One of those being the online leaderboards. It would be cool to have some different maps, a mode where you are given more than one chance and the ability to keep helicopters hovering for a while, whilst you clear the others. Flight Control works very well and I would see no reason why this couldn’t work on other platforms, such as the Nintendo DS also. It has a neat art style and some great stock sounds. I do fairly good with music off during the gameplay but maybe something in your library could go well with Flight Control. Buy this – especially if it is on special offer. It’s a simple masterpiece that will have you playing over and over.