Comparison

Mars Quest vs Retro Buzz

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

Head to head
About

Mars Quest

Embark on a challenging retro adventure guiding an astronaut through alien-infested Martian levels. Experience nostalgic 8-bit graphics and music while avoiding obstacles and increasing speed. Compete with friends via Game Center.

Highlights
  • 8-bit retro music
  • Guide astronaut through levels
  • Avoid aliens and obstacles
  • Smart level progression
  • Increasing speed challenges
  • Game Center scores and achievements
Features
Read full description

A must-have if you grew up in the eighties or if you are a C64, Atari, arcade or 8-bit lover. Nostalgic feelings guaranteed! *** REVIEWS *** - SlideToPlay.com: "Mars Quest is a good choice if you need to get your nostalgia on" - AppsOnTapp.com: "a fun and addicting retro game" - AppFavour.com: "Today's Best Apps August 18th 2012" *** WHAT PLAYERS SAY *** - "Super fun game that can be played over and over again. I'm ultra picky about games I let take up valuable space on my iPhone, but this one is a must!" - "A great little arcade game that I enjoy playing" - "Fun game, addictive" - "Once you start, you dont want to stop playing :)" *** FEATURES *** - Game Center scores and achievements - 8-bit retro music - Guide the astronaut safely through all levels - Avoid all aliens and obstacles on Mars - Think smart to advance to the next level - Be careful when the speed level increases!

About

Retro Buzz

Features
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RETRO BUZZ — A LOVE LETTER TO THE ARCADE. Dodge, shoot, deflect, chase and raid your way through a swarm of pixel-art insects across an endless ladder of escalating stages. Inspired by the arcade legends of the early '80s, Retro Buzz layers modern game-feel — combo multipliers, powerup drops, a dodge-dash, screen shake, telegraphed enemy fire — onto chunky multi-colour pixel art with a soft neon glow. SIX STAGE TYPES — AND YOU EARN THE DETOURS Formation stages are the backbone. Everything else happens because of what you did in them. • FORMATION STAGES — The classic. Bees, butterflies and Queen Bees fly in choreographed lines, settle into formation, then dive at you in pairs and groups. Watch the marked RUNNERS: they bolt for the planet once the swarm thins. Kill them all for a bonus... • PURSUIT — ...or let one escape and next stage you chase it down. Free 2D flight over a scrolling planet surface, ground turrets, waves that push harder the harder you fire, and a fortress with three cores to crack at the end. The escapees turn up as 5× bounties. • BASE ASSAULT — If a Queen carries your captured fighter off, or you shoot down the spy ship and grab its beacon, the next stage is a free-roaming raid across a looping star map. Your ship flies forward, you steer, and fire goes fore and aft. Hunt the hex stations on the radar, punch the core through its hatch (or strip all six cannon pods), dodge mines, and watch the alert climb from GREEN to RED. Find the station holding your fighter and it rejoins you as a wingman. • CHALLENGE STAGES — Bonus rounds where twin lines trace S-curves, loops, figure-8s and spirals across the screen. No damage. Pure accuracy. • BONUS ROUND — Score a PERFECT on a challenge stage and your ship becomes a paddle. The swarm fires, you bounce it back, and the ricochets one-shot anything they touch. • BOSS BATTLES — Every fifth stage the Queen Hornet drifts overhead: three HP-keyed phases, aimed shots, three-way spreads and U-shaped dive attacks. You get a 3-hit buffer per life. Every fourth stage cleared grants an extra life, and a rare 1UP drop floats down from killed enemies. Deep runs feel earned. POWERUPS R — Rapid Fire. Faster fire, bigger bullet cap. S — Spread Shot. Three-way fan. O — Shield Orb. Absorbs the next hit. B — Smart Bomb. Wipes every diving enemy on screen. ! — Beacon. Dropped by the spy ship. Reveals the enemy bases. 1 — Extra Life. Very rare. Treasure it. POLISHED FEEL • Hit feedback on every impact: sprite flash, sparks, debris, screen shake. • Combo multiplier — chain kills without a miss for up to 5× score. • Enemy fire is telegraphed at the muzzle, so you always get a fair read. • Enemies bank into their turns and face where they fly. • Hand-drawn multi-colour sprites: striped bees, red-winged butterflies with eyespots, crowned Queen Bees and a 48×48 Queen Hornet. • Optional CRT scanlines. Persistent high score and best stage. • Leave the title screen alone and the game plays itself — a different stage type every time. CONTROLS An analog stick, DASH and FIRE live in their own band under the playfield, so your thumbs never cover the action. Hold FIRE to shoot, tap DASH to dodge through bullets. The stick moves you sideways in the classic stages, flies in 2D on the planet run, and steers on the base raid. NO ADS. NO IAP. NO ACCOUNTS. JUST THE GAME. Best paired with: a quiet evening, a dim room, and the satisfying feeling of finally finding the base that took your fighter.

Screenshots

Mars Quest4 screens
Retro Buzz4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Retro Buzz at none against Mars Quest's 5. Retro Buzz also leads on ads (none vs shown). Mars Quest's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). On price and device support 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

Both are free to download. Mars Quest sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Retro Buzz asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mars Quest ships an update fortnightly, Retro Buzz every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 9, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Mars Quest versus Retro Buzz: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMars QuestRetro Buzz
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (91 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews68.5% of reviews—
Number of ratings91 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size98 MB2 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperFirst Class Media B.V.Alexander Garmash

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Mars Quest

One-time5
  • Remove advertising$0.99
  • 1 extra life$0.99
  • 5 extra lives$1.99
Show 2 more
  • 10 extra lives$2.99
  • 25 extra lives$4.99
None

Retro Buzz

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Mars Quest free?
Mars Quest is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Retro Buzz free?
Retro Buzz is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Mars Quest or Retro Buzz have ads?
Mars Quest shows ads; Retro Buzz does not.
Which is updated more often, Mars Quest or Retro Buzz?
Mars Quest ships an update fortnightly, and Retro Buzz every 2 months. Most recently, Mars Quest was updated on September 9, 2026 and Retro Buzz on September 20, 2026.

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