I’ve never been good at “bullet hell” shooters; as my friends have noted while trying to get me into playing Jamestown: Legend Of The Lost Colony, I suck pretty bad.

However, I’m slowly crawling my way out of the recesses of horridness with the aid of a free shooter for the iOS platform titled Phoenix HD. Free to download and play, the game packages many of the trops of bullet hell games into an easy-to-consume meal, which I can definitely get behind.

The story is a bit cliche, but then again, shoot-em-ups aren’t noted for their vast, expansive narratives; you are a space ship, and you must kill, kill, kill. You can choose one of three different types of ships, Phoenix, Corsair or Mirage, and face endless waves of alien enemies.

I like this game because the difficulty level is customizable, and doesn’t just throw you into the deep end of the pool unless you’re feeling particularly ballsy. It only needs one finger to control (and a tap of a second finger to activate stored powerups), so the flying feels fluid, and control is finely-tuned. It should be, as, well, the whole point of the game is to dodge bullets. My only real complaint towards this game is the lack of sensitivity setting, as there were some moments where my finger positioning was my undoing.

The game is free, but is supported by certain micropayments that actually make sense. Instead of trying to gouge players with power-ups or levels that are locked until you shell out cash, the game gives you a choice: you can pay nothing and only be able to play with the default ship (the Phoenix), or you can pay $0.99 to unlock each of the other fighters.

This also extends to playing online: you can keep track of your scores and achievements for free, but if you want to compete on a global leaderboard, you need to pony up another $0.99.

This game is easily worth the $3+ for the “complete” experience, but allowing users to choose how deep they want to go in just scores an endless amount of points for the developer. After spending all summer among a horrible sea of money-wringing Android games, it’s refreshing to see a mobile game do it right.

Keep in mind, this isn’t an “Android sucks, buy iOS” point; it’s more of a “here’s a bunch of mobile developers who don’t get it, and here’s one that does.”

In short, pick up Phoenix HD from iTunes: you literally have nothing to lose.