Comparison

Tractor Beam vs Retro Parsec

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

Head to head
About

Tractor Beam

Pilot a ship through an asteroid field using only a tractor beam. Slingshot your vessel and use the beam to manipulate asteroids, creating a unique and challenging arcade experience. Enjoy dynamic music or play your own.

Highlights
  • Tractor beam mechanics
  • Asteroid field navigation
  • Multi-touch gameplay
  • Procedurally generated music
  • Portrait and landscape modes
  • Three difficulty levels
Features
Read full description

Your engines are down. Use your tractor beams to move. "Some of the most fun we've had with $0.99 on the iPhone and we still can't put it down" - Slide To Play Tractor beam is a powerfully simple and addictive arcade game inspired by the classics. Unarmed and out of fuel, to survive you must slingshot your ship through an asteroid field using only your tractor beam. But the beam will also send the asteroids on a collision course with your ship, making for a unique challenge as you press onward to earn points. Tractor Beam can be played in either portrait or landscape orientation, and multi-touch gameplay allows for more than one beam and complex strategies. The procedurally generated background music is never the same twice, or choose to listen to your own music from within the iPod application. - Classic arcade look and feel - Multi-touch gameplay - Three levels of difficulty - Dynamic music is created on-the-fly - Allows for music from other applications

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.

Screenshots

Tractor Beam3 screens
Retro Parsec1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Tractor Beam at 5.0 against Retro Parsec's 4.0. Tractor Beam also leads on update cadence (every 6 months vs every 25 months) and review sentiment (82% vs 73%). Retro Parsec's advantage is ratings volume (50 vs 6). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Tractor Beam costs $0.99 and Retro Parsec $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Tractor Beam 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 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 82% of Tractor Beam's written reviews are positive against 73% of Retro Parsec's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tractor Beam ships an update every 6 months, Retro Parsec every 25 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Tractor Beam versus Retro Parsec: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTractor BeamRetro Parsec
Price$0.99$0.99
Rating5.0 (6 ratings) — better4.0 (50 ratings)
Positive reviews82.0% of reviews — better73.3% of reviews
Number of ratings650 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 months — betterEvery 25 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS9.09.0
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB15 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperManufacturing ContentYesung Moore

Customer experience

Tractor Beam

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews61 reviews
Positive82.0%
Neutral9.8%
Negative8.2%

Retro Parsec

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

In-app purchases

None

Tractor Beam

No in-app purchases

None

Retro Parsec

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Tractor Beam free?
Tractor Beam costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Retro Parsec free?
Retro Parsec costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Tractor Beam or Retro Parsec?
Tractor Beam is rated higher. Tractor Beam averages 5.0 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while Retro Parsec averages 4.0 from 50 ratings.
Do Tractor Beam or Retro Parsec have ads?
Neither Tractor Beam nor Retro Parsec shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Tractor Beam or Retro Parsec?
Tractor Beam ships an update every 6 months, and Retro Parsec every 25 months. Most recently, Tractor Beam was updated on October 16, 2026 and Retro Parsec on October 21, 2026.

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