Comparison

Retro Buzz vs Plunge

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

Head to head
About

Retro Buzz

Features
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RETRO BUZZ โ€” 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 โ€” combo multipliers, powerup drops, a dodge-dash, screen shake, telegraphed enemy fire โ€” onto chunky multi-colour pixel art with a soft neon glow. SIX STAGE TYPES โ€” AND YOU EARN THE DETOURS Formation stages are the backbone. Everything else happens because of what you did in them. โ€ข FORMATION STAGES โ€” 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... โ€ข PURSUIT โ€” ...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 5ร— bounties. โ€ข BASE ASSAULT โ€” 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. โ€ข CHALLENGE STAGES โ€” Bonus rounds where twin lines trace S-curves, loops, figure-8s and spirals across the screen. No damage. Pure accuracy. โ€ข BONUS ROUND โ€” 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. โ€ข BOSS BATTLES โ€” 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 โ€” Rapid Fire. Faster fire, bigger bullet cap. S โ€” Spread Shot. Three-way fan. O โ€” Shield Orb. Absorbs the next hit. B โ€” Smart Bomb. Wipes every diving enemy on screen. ! โ€” Beacon. Dropped by the spy ship. Reveals the enemy bases. 1 โ€” Extra Life. Very rare. Treasure it. POLISHED FEEL โ€ข Hit feedback on every impact: sprite flash, sparks, debris, screen shake. โ€ข Combo multiplier โ€” chain kills without a miss for up to 5ร— score. โ€ข Enemy fire is telegraphed at the muzzle, so you always get a fair read. โ€ข Enemies bank into their turns and face where they fly. โ€ข Hand-drawn multi-colour sprites: striped bees, red-winged butterflies with eyespots, crowned Queen Bees and a 48ร—48 Queen Hornet. โ€ข Optional CRT scanlines. Persistent high score and best stage. โ€ข Leave the title screen alone and the game plays itself โ€” 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.

About

Plunge

Features
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Plunge is a one-tap reflex game about falling fast and dodging everything. You drop down a torch-lit canyon of stone, vines, and crystals. Tap the screen to switch which wall your little glowing character clings to โ€” and time it right to slip past the spikes. The deeper you fall, the faster it gets and the higher your distance climbs. One mistake and it's over... so try again. Simple to learn, brutal to master. Every time you beat your best distance, confetti rains down to celebrate โ€” and every time you slip up, a taunt is waiting for you. โ€ข One-tap controls โ€” switch walls with a single tap โ€ข Dodge spikes that come faster the deeper you go โ€ข Beat your best distance (saved between sessions) for a confetti celebration โ€ข Lush dungeon-canyon art, glowing character, satisfying game feel โ€ข Quick runs, instant restart, "just one more drop" How deep can you plunge?

Screenshots

Retro Buzz4 screens
Plunge4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Retro Buzz at none against Plunge's shown. Plunge's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). On price, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Retro Buzz ships an update every 2 months, Plunge every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 20, 2026 and July 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 3 level
Retro Buzz versus Plunge: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRetro BuzzPlunge
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 days โ€” better
AdsNo โ€” betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.013.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size2 MB31 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlexander GarmashAhmet Adem

In-app purchases

None

Retro Buzz

No in-app purchases

None

Plunge

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Retro Buzz free?
Retro Buzz is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Plunge free?
Plunge is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Retro Buzz or Plunge have ads?
Plunge shows ads; Retro Buzz does not.
Which is updated more often, Retro Buzz or Plunge?
Retro Buzz ships an update every 2 months, and Plunge every 3 days. Most recently, Retro Buzz was updated on September 20, 2026 and Plunge on July 8, 2026.

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