"Being in the control tower is as much fun as being in the pilot seat."

LAX, NRT, HKG. If you know what they are, then you must know how they are related to this game. You don't get to fly a plane, or build an airline empire. However, hundreds of virtual lives are in your hands as you take control of the airport in a chibi kind of way.

***** Gameplay *****

The game is in Japanese, but it is import friendly. There are only a handful of controls and it only takes you fifteen minutes to learn them.

You take on the role of an air traffic controller. Your job is to coordinate take off and landing. If it sounds easy, that's because it is. In real life, an air traffic controller has to worry about birds, wind, snow, rain, fog, etc. But in Air Traffic Controller, many of these factors are ignored or simplified. It makes the game a lot easier, but some might dislike the gameplay as being too simplistic.

You have a choice of five Japanese airports, each with its own characteristics. Each airport has three difficulty settings. They are unlocked as you complete the previous level. You will be on duty for a specific time, say, 2 hours. Within the 2 hours, you will be responsible for all take offs and landings of all aircraft going out and coming in to the airport.

For take offs, you need to clear the plane for take off, then select the runway, wait for the plane to be pushed back, then instruct the plane to head for the runway, and finally give it the all clear to blast off.

Landing is somewhat simpler. As the plane approaches, it will identify itself. You are to clear it for landing, then select the runway to land, and instruct the pilot to reduce speed, and land the plane. After it has landed, you have to instruct the pilot to a free slot to off-load the passengers.

The top screen displays the airport and its surrounding sky. The bottom screen is where you select the plane and give out commands to pilots. The screen is splited into two sides, one each for take off and landing. Potentially, 8 planes could fill up the slots. Giving command is as simple as choose the right plane, and tapping on the command you want to give.

Wind could play a factor. If the cross wind is too strong, plane might have to abandon a landing attempt and accelerate once again into the sky for a second landing. That could lead to passenger discomfort and thus reduce the score. There are other factors that can come into play as well, like snow.

Complexity increases as more planes are crammed into that same window, each wanting to land/take off as soon as they can. It then becomes a task of remember which end of the runway you send each plane, and coordinate the timing. On 'easy' mode, there are ample of time for landing/take off. It's the harder modes that really test your skills and memory.

I have had occasions where I was controlling more than four planes (the maximum number of planes that could fit in the available slots). And have taken the risk of clearing a plane for take off as another one was approaching to land on more than one occasion. Seeing the plane safely get off the ground or parked into the slot really brings a smile on the face of an air traffic controller, me.

However, accidents do happen if you're not careful. If you instruct a plane that just landed to a free slot which is in the path of another plane that is heading for the runway, you are bound to have a head on collision. Unfortunately you cannot 'undo' commands. So once you issued a command, that's it. When you realised your mistake, it's often too late.

Scores are given based on the command you give and the time it takes to give that command. If a plane waits too long for you to issue a command, the passengers will become irritated and scores awarded will be deducted. Let this be known: passengers are an impatient bunch of people. It's best to give instructions as soon as it is safe to do so, otherwise, you won't get too many points.

To pass a stage, you need to obtain a certain number of points. At the end of the stage, you will be graded on how well you did base on the points you get. Obviously, the more the better.

***** Graphics *****

The airport is presented in isometric view, while the planes are in SD (super deformed) form. Even characters in the game's menu are in SD form as well. The background is colourful and fairly detailed. While I cannot verify the authenticity of the runway location and airport layout, it does not really matter in this game.

The airport is as detailed as the screen would allow. The markings on the ground are clearly labelled. The runway is very detailed with white stripes on the black tarmac. The only thing missing are the luggage carriers and fuel trucks. But given the small screen size, too much stuff going on would only clutter the screen. So it's a good decision not to include them.

There is also night mode for some of the airports. Even though it's the same airport, it is vastly different in terms of graphics. Everything is dark, and the green and red pixels on both side of the runway represent the lights. Such are the details put into the game.

***** Sound *****

There are more than enough cheery BGM to share around the airport. The sound effect is actually quite real. The engine noise is in stereo. So when a plane flies from left to right, the sound follows it from left to right.

The announcement over the PA system can be heard clearly. Although you only hear two announcements, one for landing and one for take off, it was a nice touch. The down side is that the music is often too loud that drown out the background noise like engine noise and announcement.

***** Replay Value *****

As far as I know, the landing/take off pattern is the same every time you play the same level. So after you have finished a level, there is little replay value. That said, there is a score board that record your highest 3 scores for each level.

Depending on how well you want your airport to be run, you might find yourself wanting to do everything just the perfect way. If that's you, then you will replay it multiple times.

***** Overall *****

Air Traffic Controller is a fun game. It is clearly marketed towards young children, especially with the chibi characters, planes and colourful city backdrop. The airport is detailed and sound is almost perfect. Being in the control tower is a stressful job at best, and Air Traffic Controller has captured the essence of it.

A sandbox mode would have been nice. Randomised landing / take off pattern would also add to the replay value. But despite these shortfalls, it is still a fun game. Older kids might not like the simplicity of it all, while younger children will enjoy it because it throws away all the complexity. Either way, it's a great way to spend a week or two.

Good:

* Detailed graphics
* Sound effect
* Simplistic

Bad:

* No 'undo' command
* No sandbox mode
* Lacks complexity

Score (out of 10)

Gameplay: 7
Graphics: 8
Sound: 8
Replay: 6

Overall: 7

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/18/07