Since its announcement, we at WPCentral have been eagerly anticipating the release of MiniSquadron on Xbox Live. Imagine my disappointment then when I booted the game up on Wednesday only to discover that the virtual stick simply did not work. As a result, I couldn’t steer the plane or do much of anything besides get an Achievement for bouncing into the walls. A quick check of the comments section on Wednesday’s announcement article and other gaming forums reveals the problem is fairly widespread, though it doesn’t affect everyone.
Thankfully there is a fix for MiniSquadron’s control problem. If your game’s virtual stick isn’t working, simply restart your phone. The next time you boot up the game, the controls should be fixed. You’re then set to enjoy some 2D aerial combat!
Fat Pebble, the developer responsible for the Windows Phone port of MiniSquadron, is aware of the control bug. They have promised to fix it as soon as possible. While the inconvenience of the bug seems like a total downer, it’s actually a boon for gamers. You see, MiniSquadron was developed prior to the Windows Phone Mango update and therefore doesn’t support Fast App Switching. Now that the devs have to update the game to fix the bug, it will be easy for them to throw in Fast App Switching at the same time. Let’s just hope Microsoft allows the update to pass quickly (as they seldom do).
In the meantime, don’t let the presence of a little bug keep you from buying MiniSquadron. The workaround is a very minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things. MiniSquadron costs $2.99 and there is a free trial. Touch down here on the Marketplace to get it.
Update: MiniSquadron may not receive an update to fix the control bug and its broken Achievement after all. We'll post again if things change.
