Comparison

Star Horizon vs Mars

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

Head to head
About

Star Horizon

Embark on an interstellar journey as a Federation pilot, battling through dynamic space combat. Upgrade your ship, make critical story choices, and uncover a galaxy-spanning mystery with an AI companion.

Highlights
  • Intuitive touch controls
  • Engaging storyline with choices
  • Ship and weapon upgrades
  • Variety of spaceships
  • Unlockable achievements
  • Game controller support
Features
Read full description

Please Note: Star Horizon requires an iPad2/iPhone 4s/iPod Touch 5 or above. “Star Horizon stands on its own as a title that is well worth playing. The visual splendor alone would be more than enough to justify the purchase.” - 148Apps “Star Horizon is a fiery and fitting tribute the likes of Afterburner and Starfox.” - AppSpy “Star Horizon serves as a showpiece for the iOS platform(…) the controls feel fine-tuned to near perfection.” - MacLife “Star Horizon is a slick pulse-raising arcade shooter that evokes many of the best sci-fi space battles in recent cinematic and TV history” - Pocketgamer “Best Mobile Game” nominee @Game Connection Paris 2013 / Selected Projects finals Play as John, a private in the service of the Federation. Focus on amusing story and dynamic battles. Journey through the cosmos, upgrade your ship, make important story decisions and have fun fighting those epic bosses! • Grab your phone and play instantly. Your screen is your controller (virtual sticks? Yuck!) • Rescue your friends or obey the orders – follow the storyline and make choices • Don't get shot - upgrade your ship with in-game currency (no IAP!) and weapons to finish your enemies in multiple astonishing ways • Follow the relationship between the man and the machine spiced up with amusing conversations and absurd humor. • Discover a wild variety of spaceships and fleet • Use your skills to unlock achievements • Support for game controllers John doesn't fight to rack up kills or for honor and pride. At least not anymore. He just fights to survive and get the whole thing over with. His ship is controlled by Ellie, an Artificial Intelligence which is programmed to help pilots stay mentally strong throughout the war and which cannot kill human beings. Federation is about to turn the tide of the war but then things start to go wrong. Ellie puts John into hibernation for 1000 years. Now he will have to discover what really happened and maybe, but just maybe, save the galaxy.

About

Mars

Embark on a thrilling space adventure as a volunteer on a mission to Mars. Pilot a jetpack to explore the Martian surface, capture unique selfies, and navigate the challenges of interplanetary travel. Prove the doubters wrong and make history on this groundbreaking expedition.

Highlights
  • Explore Mars on a jetpack
  • Take selfies on Mars
  • Avoid Rapid Unscheduled Disassemblies
  • Discover Martian sights
  • Volunteer for a space mission
Features
Read full description

MarsCorp is ready to take the first group of volunteers on an exciting mission to Mars! Fly around Mars in one of our brand new jetpacks and discover what’s out there. As part of the “Put A Human On Mars No Matter What” program, we are proud to announce that MarsCorp is the first company cutting enough corners to make human flights to Mars finally viable. So-called “professional” astronauts will tell you things like “No sane person would travel across space on that thing” or “The fuel on that jetpack lasts about 30 seconds”, but you can prove them wrong! Here’s your chance to make history! - Explore Mars on a jetpack. - Take selfies on Mars's greatest sightings. - Avoid Rapid Unscheduled Disassemblies. - Have fun!

Screenshots

Star Horizon4 screens
Mars4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Mars at Free against Star Horizon's $5.99. Mars also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.1) and review sentiment (91% vs 51%). Star Horizon's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and ads (none vs shown). On update cadence 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

Mars is free to download; Star Horizon costs $5.99 up front. Mars sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Star Horizon asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Mars holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mars has 22K ratings behind it against 25, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 51% of Star Horizon's written reviews are positive against 91% of Mars's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Star Horizon ships an update every 3 weeks, Mars monthly. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Star Horizon versus Mars: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStar HorizonMars
Price$5.99Free — better
Rating4.1 (25 ratings)4.8 (22K ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.8% of reviews90.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2522K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TViPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV
Requires iOS7.0 — better12.0
Further details — not scored
Size927 MB256 MB
Age rating9+9+
DeveloperOrbital Knight sp. z o.o.Pomelo Games

Customer experience

Star Horizon

All ratings25 ratings
Positive76.0%
Neutral8.0%
Negative16.0%
Written reviews193 reviews
Positive50.8%
Neutral11.4%
Negative37.8%

Mars

All ratings21,739 ratings
Positive96.7%
Neutral1.8%
Negative1.5%
Written reviews1,811 reviews
Positive90.7%
Neutral3.3%
Negative6.0%

User reviews

Star Horizon

From 25 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎨 Stunning graphics and visual effects
  • 🎮 Smooth, responsive controls
  • 🚀 Excellent frame rate and performance
  • 📖 Engaging sci-fi storyline with branching choices
  • 💰 No in-app purchases required

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes on various iOS versions
  • ⏱️ Very short game length (1-3 hours)
  • 🎤 Poor voice acting and cheesy dialogue
  • 🔋 High battery consumption
  • ❌ Limited control over ship movement

Mars

From 22K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Simple and addictive gameplay
  • 👍 Relaxing and calming experience
  • 👍 Variety of unique characters with different themes
  • 👍 Optional ads that provide rewards
  • 👍 Offline playability

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
  • 🔁 Repetitive and can get boring over time
  • 🔁 Lack of difficulty progression
  • 🔁 Duplicate character unlocks can be frustrating

Bugs and requests

Star Horizon

Reported bugs

11 issues
  • App crashes on iOS 17.2 and newer versions
  • Crashes when opening achievements button
  • Game crashes when starting missions
  • Crashes at specific checkpoints (SOS mission)
  • Frame rate drops during intense scenes
Show 6 more
  • Civilian ship disappears on level 2 checkpoint restart
  • Language defaults to unknown language (Russian)
  • Menu disappears immediately after death
  • Crashes on iPad Pro and older devices
  • Controller support broken after updates
  • Game won't load past opening credits on older devices

Requested features

10 requests
  • More levels and missions
  • Additional ships and weapons
  • Sequel or expansion pack
  • Full 3D flight control like Galaxy on Fire
  • More varied enemy types
Show 5 more
  • Online multiplayer mode
  • Open-world exploration elements
  • Accelerometer control option
  • Inverted controller support
  • More meaningful story choices with lasting impact

Mars

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes when taking selfies
  • Streak resets when returning to a previous level
  • Inconsistent controls and fuel usage

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add new planets and environments to explore
  • Introduce different gameplay modes (e.g., time trials, challenges)
  • Allow players to customize platforms and backgrounds
  • Implement a way to revisit previous levels

In-app purchases

None

Star Horizon

No in-app purchases

10 purchases

Mars

One-time10
  • Arnold$0.99
  • Little Martha$0.99
  • Marselot$0.99
Show 7 more
  • Nigiri$0.99
  • Ufo$0.99
  • Discman$0.99
  • Kestrel 5$0.99
  • Eagle$0.99
  • Stephen$3.99
  • El Dorado$3.99

Questions

Is Star Horizon free?
Star Horizon costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Mars free?
Mars is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Star Horizon or Mars?
Mars is rated higher. Star Horizon averages 4.1 out of 5 from 25 ratings, while Mars averages 4.8 from 22K ratings.
Do Star Horizon or Mars have ads?
Mars shows ads; Star Horizon does not.
Which is updated more often, Star Horizon or Mars?
Star Horizon ships an update every 3 weeks, and Mars monthly. Most recently, Star Horizon was updated on November 1, 2026 and Mars on November 1, 2026.

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