Buganoids is your ultimate throwback to the 80s. It’s a survival retro space shooter by Backflip studios where you, little space dude, walk around a tiny planet and shoot at baddies. These baddies come from craters on the planet and, perhaps more annoyingly, fly in from space.  You’re given three lives, a bomb that recharges after a set amount of time, and can collect special powerups. There are three difficulty settings and 8 planets total… and that’s pretty much all there is to the game. Yes, the game is very simple, but I think a huge part of why I like it is because of the nostalgic factor. If you’re an 80s baby like I am and love retro arcade games like Gyruss , Space Invaders, and Galaga, you’re probably going to like this game as well. This game is short and sweet like my review. I’m giving this a thumbs up.

Harbor Master HD is the free version of Imangi Studios’s $1.99 iPhone and iPod touch game of the same name. Harbor Master is Flight Control with boats… Your goal is to direct incoming ship traffic (using your fingers to draw their travel paths) to color-coded docks so they can unload their differently colored cargo before being guided back out to sea, all the while trying to avoid crashing any of the vessels together… and, depending on the map, dealing with other forces of nature (like cyclones and sea monsters)… In case you already didn’t know, Flight Control is one of my favorite games in the app store and any game that has the same feel already has an advantage with me. I like Harbor Master. Not as much as Flight Control, but I like it. It really tests your strategic multi-tasking and the HD version looks really nice. They also have an interesting pricing model… the HD version is free and comes with only one map, with 4 more maps available for 99 cents each. This basically means the full version is 4 dollars, which really isn’t that much… and the moment you buy a map, they pull the ads that initially show up in the game. If you’ve only got an iPhone or iPod touch, Harbor Master is 1.99 but it comes with 7 maps, which is also a pretty nice deal. Harbor Master is not quite as awesome as Flight Control, but it’s close enough. Thumbs Up!
And here’s to another throwback to the 80’s, Light bike 2 by Pankaku Inc., is pretty much a remake of the Tron “LightCycle” game where bikes create walls of colored light as they move around an arena.  The bike moves at a constant speed, and you are in control of turning right or left at 90 degree angles. You’re also given boosts and can even jump over walls. There are usually four players to a game and your goal is to avoid walls, including your own. Last man standing, wins. Look, the game itself is incredible. They could’ve done nothing else and made the game and I would’ve been happy. But, they’ve went ahead and added two incredible selling points: multiplayer mode and it’s price of free. The only complaint is that the controls take a little getting used to — the placement is not the best, but other than that, great game. I love it. A very easy thumbs up.