Airport Mania: First Flight. A Popular Title that puts You in Control of a Busy Airport!
by Paul Wilks
Jul 1, 2011 9:59 AM –
Install
Airport Mania: First Flight is a fun management simulation that puts you in control of a busy airport. Massive on the iPhone, Airport Mania lets you land, unload, refuel, reload, repair and launch a variety of different planes with differing personalities. The game, while having quite simple graphics, has a huge depth of gameplay and is well worth looking at.
Price: Free, $0.99
Tested on: HTC Desire HD
Content Rating: Everyone
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Fun yet challenging gameplay.
- Hugely addictive.
- Different stage and tasks to complete.
- Free version has 2 Airports, while the full version has 8 and lots of levels.
- Lots of different aircraft.
- Automatic saving.
Cons
- Music is a bit fluffy.
- Graphics are pretty basic.
Features:
Airport Mania puts you in control of a cute little airport. Watch out for planes as they approach, land them carefully before unloading them of passengers, reloading and watch them take off again. Some planes will need repair and some will need refuelling so your timing has to be good to keep everything moving smoothly.
The game advises you to use one runway to land and another to take off. Do not take this lightly, when things get hectic this is very useful. Sometimes your airport terminals get too busy and you will have to park your planes in a bay to make room for them. Planes each have differing personalities and some can be very impatient! If a flying plane has to wait too long they’ll fly off to another airport. OK, not particularly realistic but it’s all good fun.
You have to develop a well timed strategy to make sure your airport runs smoothly. Each plane must land, unload it’s passengers, reload with more travellers before taking off again. Some planes will tell you they need to be repaired before they can take off again so you will need to factor this in too. Others need to be refuelled so there is a refuelling depot you have to send them to. It’s quite simple on the face of it, but the more planes that land the busier and busier it gets.
Different airports provide different challenges, and while the Free version only has 2, the full version has a satisfying 8 airports to manage.
Once your airport is up and running, you can add extra loading gates, layover spaces, runways, in flight movies (to keep planes happier) etc, to build and improve your airport however you want to. This adds a huge amount of depth and control in the game as you progress. There is a lot to get stuck into. While I have noticed many people on Android Marketplace suggesting the game is too short, I think there is many, many hours in this game and well worth your consideration.
Watch on Mobile
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Airport Mania – Tutorial tasks- landing etc.
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Airport Mania – Strategically land, unload, fuel, repair and reload your aircraft for smooth airport management.
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Airport Mania – In game view.
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Airport Mania – Some planes might need repair or refuelling.
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Airport Mania – Even planes love my airport. Planes have personalities.
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Airport Mania – Glad to hear it.
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Airport Mania – Stages.
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Airport Mania – Main menu
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Airport Mania – Tutorial welcome.
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Airport Mania – Best to do the tutorial!
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Airport Mania – Several different types of air craft.
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Airport Mania – Options
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Airport Mania – In game options.
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Airport Mania – Earn money and upgrade your airport. It shall be JFK in no time.
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Airport Mania – Sound preferences.
Fun Factor:
With cutesy graphics, smiley planes, gentle music and funny sound effects the game delivers fun in large buckets. Suitable for children and adults, Airport Mania will easily keep you entertained. Perhaps on a long haul flight??
Addictive:
Oh yes. The more you play the more addictive it gets. It’s not really that difficult if you have a keen sense of timing and awareness of what’s going on in your airport and so the game pushes you on and on- keeping your customers and planes happy, building new gates and runways, etc. It’s lots of fun and you’ll keep coming back for more.
Graphics:
The graphics are a bit clunky to be honest. It doesn’t detract from the game much and the simplicity probably means the game will work on most phones. But in the era of blistering graphics so beautiful it makes grown adults gasp in gleeful awe, Airport Mania looks a little retro.
Accelerometer, Vibration & Sound:
I found the in game music a little lame to be honest. Or is it? Is it just replicating the horrible departure lounge music in real airports? If so, hats off to the developers for adding this kind of depth to the game. However, you’re probably not going to adore the music. The sound effects- taking off, landing sound, and such are a nice touch however.