Comparison

Retro Buzz vs Pixel Arcade

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

Pixel Arcade

Features
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Pixel Arcade is a pocket-sized collection of retro mini-games, built for quick sessions and endless replay. No sign-up grind, no sprawling tutorials - just pick a game and start chasing your high score. FOUR CLASSIC STYLE GAMES, ONE APP - UP 1 WAY - Dodge skulls, collect bamboo, and climb as high as you can. - FOOT LASER - Jump, dodge, and auto-fire lasers at waves of enemies. - PAKU PAKU - Eat dots, dodge ghosts, and gobble power pellets in a maze chase inspired by arcade classics. - LASER FORTRESS - Hold to sweep your laser and snipe incoming enemies before they reach you. WHY YOU'LL KEEP COMING BACK - Beat your own best score in every game - every run counts. - Bite-sized sessions that fit a commute, a coffee break, or a waiting room. - Charming pixel-art visuals and chiptune-style sound effects. - Light, dark, or system theme - play your way, day or night. - Sound and vibration toggles, so it's exactly as loud (or quiet) as you want. - Available in 8 languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese. Pixel Arcade is built for anyone who grew up on pixel-art classics - or anyone who just wants a genuinely fun, no-friction arcade game on their phone. Download now and start beating your own high scores.

Screenshots

Retro Buzz4 screens
Pixel Arcade4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Pixel Arcade at 15.1 against Retro Buzz's 17.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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 6 weeks, Pixel Arcade every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
Retro Buzz versus Pixel Arcade: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRetro BuzzPixel Arcade
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeks โ€” betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac โ€” betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.015.1 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size3 MB42 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlexander GarmashMahendrasinh Gohil

In-app purchases

None

Retro Buzz

No in-app purchases

None

Pixel Arcade

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Retro Buzz free?
Retro Buzz is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Pixel Arcade free?
Pixel Arcade is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Retro Buzz or Pixel Arcade have ads?
Neither Retro Buzz nor Pixel Arcade shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Retro Buzz or Pixel Arcade?
Retro Buzz ships an update every 6 weeks, and Pixel Arcade every 2 months. Most recently, Retro Buzz was updated on October 7, 2026 and Pixel Arcade on October 21, 2026.

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