Helix Review
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Helix Review

Our Review by Nadia Oxford on October 17th, 2014
Rating: starstarstarstarblankstar :: SPIRAL INTO MADNESS
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Helix is a unique action/arcade game that should keep you busy for ages - and then some.

Developer: Michael Brough
Price: $2.99
Version Reviewed: 1
App Reviewed on: iPhone 5

Graphics / Sound Rating: starstarstarhalfstarblankstar
User Interface Rating: starstarstarstarblankstar
Gameplay Rating: starstarstarstarblankstar
Replay Value Rating: starstarstarstarblankstar

Overall Rating: starstarstarstarblankstar

Ask any tiger shark and they'll tell you that circling your prey is tops. Nobody likes to watch certain death wind around them. Something about it just erodes sanity.

Going in circles is what Michael Brough's Helix is all about. This addictive arcade-style game has spaceships, sprite art, and chiptunes. All that's missing is the ability to shoot tiny "pew pew!" bullets. But no, there's only one way to dispose of the bad guys: encircle them. Like the aforementioned tiger shark.


Each level of Helix starts with the player's ship chilling in the middle of space. Soon, enemy ships begin trickling in from the sides of the screen. To dispose of them, the player needs to draw a circle using their ship. When the circle closes around the enemy, they're history.

Here's the thing. It's not necessary to bodily wrap around the enemy ships. Drawing a circle anywhere on-screen causes halos of light to appear around all rival ships that are on-screen at that particular moment. This is excellent news, since any number of vessels can appear at one time, so it'd be pretty difficult to wrap around every single one in sequence.


That's not to suggest Helix is merciful, however. While connecting some halos requires the player to move clockwise, others won't close unless the player draws counter-clockwise. And with so many ships moseying onto the field, one enemy ship will only be starting its halo while another is vanquished. It takes a lot of concentration and dexterity to keep things in order, especially on Terror Mode (lots of enemy ships) and Vortex Mode (crazy number of enemy ships).

Despite the fact that it uses the same 8-bit palette that's all the rage with mobile games these days, Helix is a unique arcade experience that's hard to put down. It's simple, but it sure isn't easy.

iPhone Screenshots

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Helix screenshot 1 Helix screenshot 2 Helix screenshot 3

iPad Screenshots

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Helix screenshot 4 Helix screenshot 5 Helix screenshot 6 Helix screenshot 7
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