Release Date: 05/03/2009
Played On: iOS / Win
Available On: Droid / DS / iOS / Mac / PS3 / Wii / Win / WP
Time Played: 3h 36m
Progress: Played each level multiple times
Developer: Firemint
Publisher: Namco
The world of mobile ports to other platforms is often fraught with bad controls, poor optimisation, and a long list of other complaints that make them barely worth considering. Often it's because the process adds a bunch of clunky patches in an effort to make it work, while ultimately distilling out the very thing that made it fun in the first place.
Flight Control HD is the full-fat version of Flight Control that was originally released on iOS, well before it made its way to more powerful systems. I've never been opposed to mobile gaming, as it offers a different way to play and offers a unique touch-driven control scheme. Although, the biggest complaint I have with any mobile platform is when it attempts to convert complex controller inputs into touch screen "virtual" controls. Sure it doesn't really work well in the first place, but it also negates the potential that touch controls have to offer a gameplay system that isn't available anywhere else.
The first time I really understood touch controls was when I played Harbor Master on a friend's first generation iPad. If you don't know, it's basically Flight Control, but with boats (so I'll get into the actual mechanics later). The action of tapping on ships as they appeared on screen, then drawing a path for them to follow, was perhaps the most intuitive interaction I've had with a touch pad to date.
Later on I'd play The Room, Plague Inc., and Monument Valley, which all use touch controls as part of the key mechanics in the game. There's something visceral about moving around The Room to reveal different puzzles and elements, that wouldn't have the same feel if it was done with a gamepad or keyboard. These smaller titles that were made with touch controls in mind, offer a different style of game that's unique to the platform. The closest we can get on other systems are inaccurate motion controls, or using a mouse driven system to mimic touch.
That's not to say that it can't be done, and a lot of the games I've already mentioned have been successfully ported to PC and other platforms. A while ago I wrote about Zen Bound 2, which started life as a mobile touch-driven game, but manipulating those puzzles with a mouse input works just as well.
Where these transitions seem to fall down are with lazy UI mistakes, such as leaving in the word "tap" instead of replacing it with "click". Although, the greatest sin has to be when porting a traditionally complex control scheme to a basic touch input device, as in the case of those abysmal Street Fighter ports. Not to mention the weird FPS ports that place a large virtual joystick on the screen, as if using a joystick for FPS wasn't bad enough, they had to go and make a virtual version.
So when I say that Flight Control HD is a pretty decent port of a mobile game, I hope you know that it's high praise. Thankfully the basic gameplay of Flight Control (or Harbor Master, which is exactly the same) involves nothing more than drawing paths for planes to follow. The goal is to land as many as you can without any crashing into each other. Each plane or helicopter needs to land at a specific runway or helipad, and they all travel at their own speeds that make planning complex routes difficult when they start piling on top of each other.
Drawing paths works fabulously on touch devices, so it's nice to find that the mouse input version still manages to retain some of the feel from its mobile origins. I have to admit that the mobile touch input feels a lot more responsive and instant than the mouse version, but the difference is slight and easily forgotten.
The real meat of the game is playing each map as the traffic escalates and becomes seemingly impossible to keep track of. At first there are only a couple of planes on screen, but you quickly start to lose control of every path and within a moment you realise you missed two planes heading straight for each other on the far side of the screen. The alarms sound, but you're busy sending another craft in a safe direction when the clash of metal sounds and you realise it's game over.
While the mechanics remain the same on every map, each one adds a little twist to make it more interesting. An emergency plane might show up every now and then on one map, so you have to give way to it no matter what you had planned already. Another features stunt planes that gather score by flying through complex paths that quickly get in the way of everything else. There's a good number of maps available and each has a different configuration of runways and helipads, with various modifiers that keep you on your toes.
Yes, this is a simple game with basic presentation and a mobile-friendly UI that looks a bit too big at times on my large wide screen PC monitor, but it doesn't get in the way. Sometimes I'll play a mobile port and the UI buttons will be as large as my head, so at least Flight Control HD had the good sense to tone it down a little. It's not hard to tell that this is a mobile port, but it's not because of bad design, which is a great relief.
If I were being picky, I would like to see the soundtrack improved, as each level starts with a jaunty tune being played in the background, but someone forgot to put it on repeat. Before too long you're flying a bunch of planes around a very silent map, so keep in mind that you might want to disable the soundtrack altogether and put on your own music while you play.
Overall though, I'm always excited to play a game that does what it wants to do well. As with Harbor Master before it, Flight Control HD makes perfect use of its mobile touch interface roots, while also providing a decent port to PC. The style is slick and simple, so it doesn't get tiring; and there's enough gameplay in there to keep you stressed as the screen slowly fills with planes travelling in every direction.
It's a simple concept and a simple port, but one that's worth checking out and even sinking a few hours into. There are plenty of bad mobile ports that we should all stay away from, so sometimes it's nice to find one that works well with button inputs, as well as the touch controls it was designed for. It probably won't be as mind blowing as The Room, but it's a lot of fun and can really put pressure on your ability to think quickly. You could do a lot worse than Flight Control HD if you're looking for a simple pick-up-and-play game on mobile or PC.