Star Shipping Inc.

We’re constantly being told that greed is good and that money makes the world go round, so it’s not entirely outlandish to suggest that the same rules will apply when mankind eventually makes space travel as normal as taking a bus down to the shops.

That’s certainly the vision that portrayed in Star Shipping, Inc., an interstellar trading game which sees you facing asteroids, galactic pirates, and disgusting aliens on your quest to make as much hard cash as possible.

You achieve your entrepreneurial dream by buying and selling various goods at sites on three randomly-generated planets (many of which are named after locations in the Star Wars trilogy) that form the basis of each game.

Striking out from the central hub of the Star Shipping, Inc. space station, your aim is to buy low and sell high. Three main commodities are available and their prices vary across the three planets. If you’re quick-witted and resourceful enough, you can make a killing.

You're given a limited amount of fuel, which emphasises the need to plan ventures carefully. It’s possible to refuel three times at the central base and you can acquire extra fuel cells when you defeat certain enemies, but you’re essentially trying to make as much cash as possible before your craft is totally grounded.

Once this happens you're scored according to how much revenue you generated. Chips are handed out for successful sessions and these carry over to future games, allowing you to purchase better ships and upgrades - both of which make your life as a space trader much easier.

Star Shipping, Inc. owes a massive debt to classic titles like Elite and other PC games from the ‘80s. Despite running on modern hardware, this game is very much rooted in the past: aside from buying, selling, and purchasing upgrades, weapons, and drone bodyguards, your input is actually quite limited.

During combat situations you’re limited to basic commands and have no direct control over the offensive performance of your ship. At these points, you’re presented with a static image of your attacker, but no actual animation or sound effects.

In fact, the game is saddled with a particularly poor presentation. The character shown on the title screen looks as if he’s fallen from the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down, and the menus are drab and half-finished.

But it could be argued that Star Shipping, Inc. isn’t about eye-candy. Just like the basic text adventures that inspired it, this title is about chasing money, playing the market, and bagging an impressive return.

OpenFeint integration allows you to challenge other players to see who is the savviest when it comes to trading rare items, although some kind of multiplayer element could spice things up. Even a basic turn-based mode would add some much-needed appeal to proceedings.

The game is available in both standard and high-definition versions, but there's no discernable benefit opting for HD. If anything, the game’s aesthetic shortcomings are even more blatant when viewed on the iPhone 4’s retina display.

The allure of playing Wall Street in space is considerable, and the fact that you’re limited by your fuel load makes bagging that tasty profit against all the odds even sweeter. Sadly, the below-average visuals and lack of variety stymie the game’s long-term appeal, and within the space of a day or so you’ll most likely consign this game to the void, never to return.