Learn to Fly 3: A Review of Penguin Aviation and Lunar Ambition
Lightbringer Games brings us the latest installment in the "Learn to Fly" series with "Learn to Fly 3," an action and upgrade-packed game where the little penguin that could returns for more. The core concept remains the same: our determined, tuxedo-clad penguin is still on a mission to prove his worth to internet naysayers who underestimate the awesomeness of penguins. This time, he's aiming for the moon, and he's not alone. Enlisting the help of the fuzzy baby penguins of Penguin NASA, he's ready to grind, tweak, and experiment his way to lunar success.
Gameplay and Progression
Each day in "Learn to Fly 3," you'll launch your penguin and his contraption, earning cash based on your progress. This cash is then used to buy new components and upgrades, allowing you to fly farther and faster. The ultimate goal is, of course, reaching the MOOOOOOOOOON!
You start with a very basic setup, but as you progress, you unlock a wide range of components to experiment with. Remember that some components work better with lighter materials, and the more you add, the heavier your assembly becomes. Once you unlock boosts for steering and different aircraft bodies with varying material slots, things get even more complex.
A Deeper Dive than Typical Launch Games
The "Learn to Fly" series has always been more involved than most launch games, and "Learn to Fly 3" continues this trend. It's also incredibly cute, with fantastic animated visuals and a great sense of humor. The game is definitely grindy, but the sheer number of things to buy and unlock, from passive bonuses to aesthetic tweaks, will keep fans busy for a long time.
A Focus on Vertical Ascent
Unlike previous entries that focused on horizontal distance, "Learn to Fly 3" emphasizes vertical ascent. The game is very similar to the previous games in the series, but this time focusses on going up than going across the screen. This change in focus requires players to adapt their strategies and designs to maximize altitude.
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Building Your Spaceship
In "Learn to Fly 3," you have to build, customize and upgrade a spaceship to reach space in an arcadey environment. Each playthrough earns you new parts to mess around with and assemble new exciting contraptions. There’s also weight to the parts, which means that adding heavy parts too early can actually result in a loss of altitude when launching. Getting a high altitude is very important in this game. The higher the player gets, the more money they earn. This money is used to buy the upgrades and parts mentioned above.
Game Modes
"Learn to Fly 3" offers four distinct game modes, each providing a unique challenge:
Story Mode: Earn money, upgrade your ship, and make it to space. Try to beat the time challenges or just take it at your own pace. Once players manage to complete Story mode and get the penguins to the moon, two other modes are unlocked.
Payload Mode: Build a much stronger ship that is able to pull heavy payloads along with it and carry them all the way into space. Light ships may be able to get to space in story mode, but it's going to take a lot more power to get those payloads off the ground!
Classic Mode: Reminiscent of the previous "Learn to Fly" games, the goal is to fly as far as possible horizontally. It forces you to use parts differently and think of new strategies to favor distance over altitude. Classic plays like Learn to Fly 1&2, but is a bit more difficult without anything like gliders.
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Sandbox Mode: Allows you to mess around with many game and physics constants. Infinite fuel, 100x gravity, over-powered thrusters, a gazillion obstacles in the air… Funny. Completing one of the two extra modes unlocked will get players Sandbox mode. There isn’t a goal to this mode, but it does let players adjust all sorts of aspects of the game. This includes changing how much money is earned, the amount of time boosters last, the game’s overall speed and more. It’s a fun extra mode to mess around in. However, it’s possible to break the game if the stats are messed with too much.
Obstacles and Challenges
The game features similar controls to power the space craft plus provides obstacles to avoid, these however become more of a nightmare as the faster the aircraft travels, the harder these obstacles are to see to avoid.
Visuals and Audio
The visuals in "Learn to Fly 3" aren’t bad, but they aren’t spectacular either. One thing that does help it stand out are small cutscenes for the story elements of the game. The audio in "Learn to Fly 3" is a little better than I expected. The game actually has some fun music to listen to and more can be unlocked with bonus points that are earned in the game. The sound effects are also well done. Has a pretty awesome soundtrack, good gameplay, and solid upgrades.
A Word on Ads
Please be aware that the developer has chosen to include short ads at intervals throughout this game.
Community and Reception
The game has garnered positive user reviews, with players praising its awesome soundtrack, good gameplay, and solid upgrades. Some users have even called it one of the best flash games out there.
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