Galaxy on Fire Zeemote

Yet another game that shows how far mobile gaming has come since the days of Snake, Galaxy on Fire is an excellent space adventure with a massive lifespan. The plot begins with disgraced hero Maxwell being discharged from the military. He sets up on his own as a mercenary, taking odd jobs—most of them suicide missions—to earn some space bucks.

What strikes you first is how epic this game looks. Everything is 3D and you can travel across vast expanses of space, navigate treacherous asteroid belts and travel between many distant planets and motherships. Missions range from escorting ships to taking out squadrons of bandits.

The storyline hints at a few plot turns, which really help grab your attention. An overarching tale of the murderous Vossk alien race is deep and engaging. You can even earn the respect of other races as you progress.

Missions are short, which is perfect for playing on the move and you can save your progress at regular intervals—for example, if you need to get off a bus or answer your phone.

Steering your fighter is quick and responsive thanks to the Zeemote analogue stick, although if you bypass a target, it can be confusing and slow to turn back. The inclusion of an 'about-face' command would have helped a bit, but this is a minor issue that doesn't detract from the often intense duels.

A neat tutorial helps fine-tune your skills, requiring you to pick target drones, skirt around asteroids, and eventually engage in your first battle. The targeting can be tough to get used to, as there is no assist option, but given a little practice, you will get the hang of it and start taking suckers out with relative ease.

Naturally, your craft is tooled-up to the nines, complete with blasters and an extremely powerful rocket booster, which sends the screen jerking backwards to give you a real sense of speed. However, it often feels like you are tethered to your enemies by some weird elastic-band physics, meaning you never fully outrun them when using a boost. You are almost always in their firing range, meaning you can get picked off easily from behind if you take the coward's way out and try to escape.

After each stage, you can spend your space credits on some new firepower and even a new craft. However, these are very expensive. You will have to slog your way through a lot of missions before you can even begin to think about upgrading.

Galaxy on Fire is testament to how great mobile games can be, and will appeal to space shooters everywhere. Some harsh time limits in later missions can irritate, but as with most games, practice makes perfect. The scale of the story mode and the galaxy setting will keep you coming back for more.