Each of the three difficulty levels are well paced out offering the right level of challenge for anyone. Every command you make is worth a different amount of points and, fewer points are scored if you make any minor mistakes such as clearing a plane to land when the runway is already being used. Taking too long to issue a command is also another mistake you can make, building up the stress bar on your screen and lowering your overall score. If you manage to do well over the target score however, it’s fairly satisfying to see that “S” rank at the end!


Getting an “S” rank is very easy during the first difficulty level.
Much more serious mistakes such as causing two planes to crash “head on” or “near miss” results in an immediate game over which means you have to start from scratch. It’s a little harsh but then again it is an air traffic controller sim and they can’t have staff jeopardising human lives! Fortunately, levels don’t last very long at about an hour maximum and flights always run in the same fashion. So you could always plan beforehand.

Using the stylus to direct air traffic is a breeze and really handy when it comes to the harder difficulty levels but, one little gripe I had about the sim was that you can’t seem to keep flight information on-screen. Yes, the DS has small screens but the thin grey bar along the top shouldn’t take up that much space. You can’t speed up the game either when you have no traffic to manage but that rarely happens.

Apart from the main missions, there aren’t really many extras to offer besides small background descriptions of the various aeroplane models and an air traffic controller dictionary. You can also earn yourself amusing titles depending on your stats such as “Trouble Making Demon King” if you happen to lose too much or, you can also swap your high score records with up to eight other players via wireless. Rumble pack is supported if you have that.


Learn more about the planes you fly on.
Music and sound effect wise, it all sounds very similar to some of Sim City’s tunes - Maybe the composer is a fan of Will Wright’s games but they do match the ongoing flow of air traffic control in the sim. Aeroplanes of course, can’t be without all the radio transmissions and you’ll hear plenty of that but without the voices. All you’ll hear after issuing out commands are the fuzzy noise of the radios. Accompanying all this in the background however, are fully voiced flight announcements. The cute mascot characters of the game also have little lines of dialogue too whether they’re praising you or shouting out “Oh my god!”

As for graphics, I’m afraid there’s not much to see. Each of the five airports look very different but the planes themselves all look too similar apart from the different bands of colours on them. Despite featuring different models of aeroplanes and flights from different companies, you just can’t differentiate between them unless you read the text. Helping make up for this a little however is some of the weather effects such as rain and snow. Too bad they don’t happen randomly but only during set times in certain levels.

“I’m an Air Traffic Controller DS” is most certainly more than just about watching planes flying in and out of an airport. It’s a very challenging sim to play that’s all about organisation and quick thinking but apart from that, there’s not much other content to offer. After playing this, maybe you’ll be more patient on the plane when going on your next flight.


There are very few commands during gameplay so you should be able to figure them out quickly during the easy levels.

• Simple interface; not bombarded with commands.
  
• Stylus and traditional button controls.
  
• Good range between difficulty levels.
  
• Amusing titles to earn.
  
• Replayable; score ranking.

• Planes don’t look much different apart from colours.
  
• Not much variation in graphics.
  
• Can’t keep flight details on screen.
  
• Could do with more unlockables.