iPhone App: rRootage
= 1 starr
rRootage is a slide and shoot space game with retro-vector graphics. Move your ship back and forth and avoid all the objects hurtling toward you, in your quest to destroy the mother ship.
The Good
- The graphics are moderately amusing in that retro way.
- There are several different game modes, each with slightly different ship behaviors and interactions with the mother ship’s bullets.
The Bad
- No background music or sound effects — no sound, period. This is a pretty serious omission especially compared to the pleasing background music and sounds of games like Edge and Rolando.
- Your ship’s weapon is on perpetual auto-fire, which basically draws a huge column from your ship up toward the top of the screen. Plus, your beam has no effect on all the tiny projectile-thingies emerging from the mothership. The result is not much fun, both in terms of having something to do (like press a fire button repeatedly) or seeing things explode.
- Seems like there should be some powerups to get cooler weapons.
- Not enough variation between levels, except for the number of bullets coming toward you getting more and more overwhelmingly ridiculous.
Conclusion
Maybe I just don’t get this game, but I didn’t care for it — even at the low, low price of free. The primary activity is dragging a ship around the screen — therefore I’d prefer a good-old classic like Galaga — or even Space Invaders — to this.
iTunes App Store Link: 
Yes, it is indeed lacking without the sounds and some of the strategy of whether to fire and move slow or stop firing and move quickly is lost with the “move-as-fast-as-you-drag” controls, but I suggest you try the original game by ABA Games (it’s free too, as is a Mac and Linux port). It is very fun, especially if you are a dojin shmup fan (and even if you are not, it still should be amusing).