Pew! Pew! Starblast is, in a nut shell, a space arcade shooter in which you use your voice to fire missiles. The game is a nice rendition of some of the more popular 1980s space arcade titles packaged into a fun little game with both novel and effectively intuitive controls.

An added cool factor is the ability to fire missiles by saying “pew” repeatedly, which smoothly utilizes the iPhone’s ability to process recorded sounds. The controls in the game feel natural because they rely on the tilting of the device to easily control the space ship. This was a good game design choice as it eliminates the need to clutter up the game interface with control buttons.

The gameplay is addictive, and the player can submit his or her scores to the Apple’s Game Center. The game’s visuals remind me of some of the 1960s comic books — they are done very well for such a simple game. The audio elements work with the overall game design but could use some slight improvements — this, however, does not deter from the overall enjoyment.

Pew! Pew! Starblast’s game levels feature a number of different enemies, including asteroids — all of which can be destroyed for extra points. The speed and difficulty of the game increase in a natural progression without any frustrating situations.

Overall, Pew! Pew! Starblast is a nice little arcade space shooter that earns its 99 cents price tag.