Looping is another free game provided for the iiRcade. It is a 1982 arcade game that at the time was another flying game that peaked interest in video gamers, except unlike asteroids and zaxxon this game was different in every way.
This side-scrolling action game has you control a plane capable of performing 360° loops by holding the joystick in one direction while steering up or down across two phases in order to reach a docking station. I will be honest, the first few times I played this I could not understand the way to fly the plane. I always crashed and/or got hit by the balloons that should be shot down. I walked away many times and did not play for a while. Then I practiced the flying pattern of up and down and got the hang of it. Once you get the mechanics down the game plays very well and is very challenging at the same time.
The first phase starts in a runway and players must destroy either a terminal base or a rocket base to open a gate that leads to the second phase while avoiding hot-air balloon enemies and city obstacles.
If you are skilled enough to make it through the first phase, you get put the the test in the second. The second phase involves players flying through a pipe maze where players must avoid crashing against walls while navigating across narrow passages. This is similar to the flappy bird concept but a lot harder in my opinion. Crashing against an enemy or an obstacle will result in losing a plane and once all planes are gone, the game is over.
There are much more addicting games to play on the iiRcade, but if you give this one a chance, you will see yourself going back to each time to get farther in the game and beat the high score.
For more information on this game and others, go to https://www.iircade.com/
Todd Friedman is heavily involved in the retro gaming community and has co-promoted the Video Game Summit in Chicago, IL for the past 16 years. He also has published 2 books and written for various different gaming magazines including Old School Gamer.
