Comparison

Retro Parsec vs Kurt Arcade

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Retro Parsec

Experience a classic 1980s space shooter re-imagined with retro graphics and sound. Pilot your starship, defend against alien fighters and cruisers, and navigate treacherous asteroid belts and refuelling tunnels. Test your skills and strategy in this thrilling one-player adventure.

Highlights
  • Retro 80s graphics and sound
  • Defend against alien fighters and cruisers
  • Navigate asteroid belts and refuelling tunnels
  • Synthesised speech warnings
  • Multiple speed control options
  • Increasing difficulty levels
Features
Read full description

Enjoy the nostalgia of this classic game re-created in the original style of the TI-99/4a computer game from the 1980's! Re-live the era with blocky but colourful graphics and simple but captivating sound effects. You are the commander of the starship Parsec patrolling an alien planet. Suddenly, the on-board computer announces that you are about to come under attack by small alien fighters and large, heavily armed, hostile alien cruisers! The fighters are highly mobile, and unless they are eliminated by your laser, they fill the screen, restrict manoeuvering of your craft, and may cause a deadly collision. The cruisers are highly aggressive and their armament devastating. Armed with photon missiles, they track your ship and fire on it. You must out-manoeuver and destroy them with accurate fire from your ship's laser. If you survive the waves of alien craft, do not let down your guard, for you also have to blast through an asteroid belt or refuel your ship, demanding the utmost in skilful flying. Parsec is a challenging, exciting game packed with thrills. Danger and excitement are brought on with each new attack. Some of Parsec's features include: - Waves of attack from seven different alien craft. - Challenging flights through refuelling tunnels. - Asteroid belts through which you must blast a path for your starship. - Synthesised speech to warn of approaching alien craft or when it's time to refuel. - Three different lifts to vary the speed at which the ship moves vertically. - Increased difficulty levels to challenge you. Parsec is a one-player game which tests your skills and strategy. Movement of the ship on screen may be controlled by on-screen controls or an MFI certified Bluetooth controller. When the Bluetooth controller is used, the A button is for firing the laser and the B button alters the lift speed. Scoring of points for destroying alien craft increases with waves and levels. Bonus points are awarded for successfully navigating an asteroid belt and refuelling. Asteroid belts increase in speed and duration as levels increase. Extra ships are awarded at certain score levels throughout the game.

About

Kurt Arcade

Discover a collection of diverse, simpler games in one convenient app. Explore various genres including action, puzzles, and shooting games with a wide range of themes.

Highlights
  • Collection of simple games
  • Action games
  • Shooting games
  • Flying games
  • Puzzle games
  • Horror games
Features
Read full description

Lots of my smaller simpler games, accumulated all into one simple place for you!! There's some action, some shooting, some flying, some puzzles, some horror, monkeys, lasers, bombs... a little bit of everything.

Screenshots

Retro Parsec1 screens
Kurt Arcade4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Kurt Arcade at Free against Retro Parsec's $0.99. Kurt Arcade also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.0) and update cadence (every 3 months vs every 25 months). Retro Parsec's advantage is ratings volume (50 vs 1). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Kurt Arcade is free to download; Retro Parsec costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Kurt Arcade holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Retro Parsec has 50 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Retro Parsec ships an update every 25 months, Kurt Arcade every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Retro Parsec versus Kurt Arcade: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRetro ParsecKurt Arcade
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating4.0 (50 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews73.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings50 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 25 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS9.09.0
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB260 MB
Age rating9+9+
DeveloperYesung MooreKurt Dekker

Customer experience

Retro Parsec

All ratings50 ratings
Positive76.0%
Neutral8.0%
Negative16.0%
Written reviews60 reviews
Positive73.3%
Neutral6.7%
Negative20.0%

Kurt Arcade

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Retro Parsec

No in-app purchases

None

Kurt Arcade

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Retro Parsec free?
Retro Parsec costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Kurt Arcade free?
Kurt Arcade is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Retro Parsec or Kurt Arcade?
Kurt Arcade is rated higher. Retro Parsec averages 4.0 out of 5 from 50 ratings, while Kurt Arcade averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Retro Parsec or Kurt Arcade have ads?
Neither Retro Parsec nor Kurt Arcade shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Retro Parsec or Kurt Arcade?
Retro Parsec ships an update every 25 months, and Kurt Arcade every 3 months. Most recently, Retro Parsec was updated on October 12, 2026 and Kurt Arcade on October 16, 2026.

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