Flight Control, one of the top paid apps on iTunes at the moment, is a different kind of flight sim that seems to have been built around the capabilities of the iPhone and the iPod Touch. Being a flight control agent, you’ll take on one of the world’s most stressful jobs without the risk of destroying thousands of people’s lives. Not to mention the ability to guide planes with the palm of your hand, and, while Flight Control’s gameplay may be simple, the game’s addictive charm will easily win you over for $0.99

Tasked with landing planes, jets, bigger planes and even helicopters, you’ll certainly have your hands full within moments of starting up the game. Planes will begin darting onscreen, growing more chaotic and spontaneous as you progress, and you must guide them to their respective runaways/landing zones while keeping the airborne crafts from colliding with each other. Luckily for you, the game does an excellent job of helping you manage the abundance of planes that seem to gather onscreen. All the pathways that you mapped out are always visible, and a red alerting bubble will surround planes that are getting too close to each other. Just because a bubble is glowing, however, doesn’t necessarily mean that the two means planes are going to collide – a facet of the gameplay that I loved. The game’s quick pace, however, will more than likely turn everyone off at some point or another. It’s just one of those games that’s meant for short bursts of gameplay rather than anything lasting more than five to ten minutes.

Graphically speaking, Flight Control does a great job of using colors to distinguish the different types of planes and helicopters, and the interface/camera view for the game is absolutely perfect. It’s far enough away to where the planes don’t feel cheaply clustered, but the camera is close enough to provide a very challenging experience. Even though the game’s elevator type music doesn’t quite match the game’s chaotic pace, the calming, yet unnerving, nature of the soundtrack makes it a bit ironic and sometimes even humorous.