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Splash Cars (Free) by Craneballs s.r.o. is a frantic arcade game that feels like a mix of Pako Car Chase Simulator and Splatoon. If this sounds like a chaotic blast to you, then you won’t be disappointed, as that is exactly what this is.

When I reviewed Pako Car Chase Simulator, I fell in love with the simplistic isometric graphics and the unique, challenging gameplay that the game offered. I mean, it’s certainly not everyday you get to drive a car recklessly in order to avoid being caught by the cops, right? At least that’s what I hope, anyway. Because of my love of Pako, as well as games that involve splashing around paint because of Splatoon, I was intrigued when I heard of Splash Cars. I mean, a game that combines both Pako with a dash of Splatoon? What more could I ask for?

The graphics in Splash Cars are definitely reminiscent of Pako, albeit the former has a bit more detail to things. It has the same kind of isometric flair going on, which I enjoy a lot. The environments are all different, though somewhat similar, and everything looks rich and lush and just full of detail. The colors in Splash Cars are bright and vivid, so it definitely stands out more compared to Pako, though everything starts out with a gray monotone at first. Animations in Pako are smooth and fluid, with no lag on my iPhone 6s Plus. The game also has an upbeat and quirky soundtrack that is fun to listen to as you outrun the cops and paint the town, and sound effects are a nice touch.

Like many other arcade games, Splash Cars is based on levels, and each stage is unlocked by reaching a certain threshold of paint coverage in the previous level. These cars are special, as they leave behind a trail of paint behind them, which adds splashes of color to the dull, gray environments. As you can imagine, this can be rather difficult at times, given that each car in the game has a limit to fuel in the tank, and if you’re out of fuel, well, you can’t paint anymore. There are gas canisters scattered around the map that you can collect to get some fuel back, as well as coins and stamps to spend on new cars. You can also unlock other things by covering a certain percentage of each map with paint, and these extras include new cars and even bonus stamps, which serve as the game’s premium currency. Different cars will have different speed and tank sizes, so naturally, the better cars must be earned as you play the game, or you can unlock them early in exchange for some in-app purchases of coins and stamps.

The controls in Splash Cars are simple and straightforward enough. If you played Pako Car Chase Simulator, then they should be familiar. In the beginning of each stage, your car will be sitting somewhere on the map. Once you tap the screen to start, it will move forward at full speed automatically, but it is up to you to control the steering. The button in the bottom left allows you to turn your car left, and the right button lets you turn right. There’s no way to brake, so you need to be careful with your turns, as crashing into walls and obstacles will damage your car, which slows you down after a certain threshold. As mentioned, you’ll need to collect green gas canisters to refill the tank so you can keep painting, and there will be other cars driving around that you can get to join your side and add some paint coverage of their own. However, when you are near pesky police cars, they will start chasing you as you paint, trying to cause damage to your car. And make sure to collect coins, stamps, and power-ups whenever you can, as they can give you a nice boost in the stage.

The main objective is to paint enough of the environment as you drive, but this becomes a challenge due to the gas limitations and police out to get you. Once you reach the percentage goals (indicated in the top right corner), you can continue if there’s gas left, or just tap a button to finish the stage now. You’ll earn coins depending on your performance, and the game has it’s own “rank” system, where you can earn new power-ups and boosts after reaching a certain number of miles with your cars.

As if the awesome game concept wasn’t fun enough, the game has high replay value due to the Game Center integration and opportunities for new cars to do better on old stages. There is also iCloud game save support, so you can take your progress with you, regardless of what device you’re using.

I’ve only spent a bit of time with Splash Cars over the weekend, but I’m thoroughly enjoying it so far. The visuals are beautiful, quirky music and sound effects make the game even more fun, the gameplay itself is challenging, and the controls are responsive. However, since the game is a free download, it does make use of an annoying energy system (batteries) and sometimes the levels seem so difficult at first that it feels like the game is pushing you to get some in-app purchases to help you out. I’m not a fan of this model, but that just seems how mobile gaming wants to be nowadays. The interface also gets a bit cluttered since there is a lot going on, which is a bit off-putting. Still, the game is a fun little time waster and let’s face it — leading the cops on a high speed chase while painting the neighborhood is incredibly fun, and not having to deal with real-life consequences is a bonus.

I recommend giving Splash Cars a try if you want a fun arcade game that will help you pass the time. You can get Splash Cars on the App Store as a universal download for the iPhone and iPad for free with in-app purchases.

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Stellar Wanderer ($4.99) by Crescent Moon Games and Dream Builder Studios is a space combat RPG where you can choose your own destiny. If you loved games like Galaxy on Fire 2 and things like Star Fox in general, then Stellar Wanderer is the game for you.

At some point in humanity, we’ll be traveling to and from space like no big deal, having colonies on various planets and space stations scattered about that you can visit at a whim. It’s not happening in my lifetime, but I’m confident it will happen at some point. Until then, though, there are always video games that involve space, ships, and plenty of futuristic laser battles, so that should hold us off for now. Usually I am not a big space combat game fan, because I’ll admit it — I’m not too great with them. However, since I heard about Stellar Wanderer, I was intrigued by it due to the fact that it was coming from publisher Crescent Moon Games and a development studio called Dream Builder. Plus, I can’t resist anything that looks pretty and shiny — we’re here to have fun, right?

The visuals in Stellar Wanderer look great for a mobile game, but I wouldn’t say that they are the best I’ve seen. Still, it’s decent enough and you won’t notice it too much while flying around in an open-world galaxy and shooting up your foes. Space looks beautiful in the game, thanks to the soft colors in the background due to the sun and air, and there are some rather nice looking auroras that are charming. While all of that looks fine and dandy, I was a bit disappointed with how some of the space stations and other objects looked from a distance, as I noticed things could be a bit flat, jagged, and lacking texture, so it wasn’t quite as console-quality like I was expecting. But since the game is mostly about combat, you probably won’t notice too much. Animations are smooth and fluid in the game, and I did not experience any kind of lag on my iPhone 6s Plus. The atmospheric soundtrack is pretty calming, so it should help you focus on the missions that are at stake.

Just as you’d expect, Stellar Wanderer opens up with a cutscene (you can skip if you’d like), and then you’re thrown into the action. Well, if by action you mean just flying around and reaching a gate, then yeah, that’s action-packed. However, as we all know, these types of games require a bit of a tutorial in the beginning to show players the basics, and the game does a good job of this. So even if you are like me and pretty bad at space combat titles, this tutorial will help you out.

The controls in the game are pretty simple and straightforward, though it may take some time to get used to if you don’t play these types of games a lot. To steer, you will have to tilt your device in the direction you want to go. There are calibration settings so you can recalibrate at any time if they feel off, and there are options for inverting the x and y-axis if that’s what you prefer. In the bottom left are buttons to accelerate and brake, and buttons for attacking and a special action button above it in the bottom right corner. The action button changes from Time Warp multiplier (speeds up time when you’re not in combat), jump for gates, and docking for hangars. As I said, everything is pretty easy to pick up, but mastering the controls is a different story — time and patience are needed. The crosshair for your weapon is pretty small, though, which I found to be a bit frustrating. You can switch between first and third-person perspective at any time, which is pretty cool.

As far as content goes, Stellar Wanderer is jam packed with it. While you uncover the plot, there will be main story missions that you must go through in order to advance, as well as plenty of side missions that you can take on for extra cash and experience. Early on, you will also get to choose the role you want to play as, which gives your pilot unique talents and bonuses.

The classes are: Fighter, Trader, Tank, and Engineer. Each one has their own strengths and you should distribute skill points accordingly. Fighter inflicts most damage, Trader is good at negotiating, Tank has plenty of armor to take most of the damage while the rest of the team takes out enemies, and Engineer specializes in creating items that can hurt the enemy or help your team. As you successfully complete missions and objectives, you will earn experience points — once your pilot levels up, you get a few skill points that can be distributed across a wide selection of attributes, so you need to allocate them into the best one for your class. Like any other RPG, this process requires a bit of learning and tinkering, and you may even need to start a new character if you mess up, since you can’t switch them once they’re allocated.

You will also earn money for completed missions, and all of your hard-earned cash can be spent in the Market. This is where you go for equipment (including weaponry), commodities for your crew, minerals, and cargo. The Hangar is where you want to go to modify your ship or purchase newer and better ones. And since Stellar Wanderer is a vast game, you can access the Map at any time from the main menu to see just where you are in the universe.

Typically, I’m not a big fan of these games because I can be terrible at shooting down the enemies and end up getting myself blown up a lot. But Stellar Wanderer is still a good game, despite my lack of professional skills. The game looks nice with the vast universe that it takes place in, though the textures fall a bit short compared to other console-quality games. The music is soothing and reminds me a bit of “Star Wars,” which is not necessarily a bad thing given the theme. The controls are simple enough, though it will take me a lot of practice, but I do wish the laser crosshair was a bit larger and easier to see. Hopefully that is rectified in a future update. And with the game’s large amount of content for players, this is one that will keep you busy for a while.

Despite some flaws, Stellar Wanderer is a very solid space combat RPG game that will appeal nicely to fans of the genre. I recommend checking it out this weekend if you want a nice, lengthy space combat game that is full of action.

You can get Stellar Wanderer on the App Store as a universal download for $4.99. There are no in-app purchases.

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