WP App Review : Rizing

Rizing (Version 1.8.3)

Pansoft

Free

Rizing is a relatively entertaining top-down shooter featuring colorful vector-style graphics. It's not a typical shooter in that it each level does not scroll horizontally or vertically. Instead, the playing field enables movement in a full 360 degrees, but within a limited space.

The game features dual control sticks with the left circle controlling your ship's movement and the right circle controller the direction of your firepower. The general control schematic works well and is relatively responsive, although it can get a bit tricky to maneuver precisely. And you'll definitely need to move with precision as you progress through the stages.

Each stage features several enemies which randomly spawn and you'll have to be constantly on the move to avoid their projectiles. Different power-ups, which can look similar to enemies when in the heat of battle, are available after killing your enemies and they include health and weapon upgrades that are permanent and some that are time-limited. After the swarm of enemies at the end of each stage you'll have to take out a generic boss to advance to the next level.

Overall, it's a fun game, but as you progress a few stages it becomes nearly impossible to avoid death as the number of enemies and projectiles you need to avoid requires a lot of precision to avoid, something not well suited for a touch screen control scheme. It feels like it's trying to be like the game DoDonPachi (search YouTube to see what I'm talking about) with the relentless assault of bullets but without physical controls, it just ends up being frustrating. Toning it down a bit would make it so much more enjoyable.

Oh, and the constant big ad in the upper right hand corner is pretty annoying as well, with no paid version to get rid of it. 

Pros : Nice visuals and decent controls

Cons : Touch controls aren't precise enough for the relentless projectile dodging