Mobile Games Roundup
ChuChu! Runner! Speed! Trains! Zombies!
Speed X
- Android/ £0.99
For whatever reason, notable Android exclusives have been something of a scarce commodity since we bit the bullet and bought a handset, but Hyperbee's latest release wholly justifies the groundswell of excitement for the format.
Set in the fast-moving confines of a three dimensional tunnel, survival is the name of the game, and to clock up a respectable score you have to simply avoid any obstacle that comes hurtling towards you.
With only one life at your disposal, you'll live on your nerves as one attempt swiftly follows another. Smacking headlong into a vertical or horizontal block only strengthens your resolve to do better next time, and, sure enough, something clicks and you'll start to weave skilfully in and out of the clutter, tilting the device left and right with dead-eyed precision.
Handy collectibles effectively bolster your life count, and afford you the rare luxury of being able to crash into objects unscathed, while others allow you to slow down time temporarily, or clear obstacles from your path. But just when you're getting a handle on matters, the game ups the ante by morphing the track into a flat plane, or flipping it inside out so that you're left racing around a tube, rather than skirting around the inside of one.
Driven on by trance-inducing electronica, beautiful, super-smooth visuals, and intensely addictive gameplay Speed X is a mesmerising game. For the price, there's no excuse.
9/10
Trainyard
- iPhone/ £0.59 (Express version free)
Screenshots really can be the kiss of death sometimes, and the ones accompanying Trainyard make Matt Rix's absorbing link 'n' launch puzzler look about as enticing as being crushed up against a commuter's armpit in rush hour.
It's just as well, then, that the freebie Express version gives you a risk-free chance to see exactly why the paid version is faring so well in the App Store charts at present.
Deceptively simple, the task at hand is to ensure that each train reaches its destination safely without crashing. By tracing the track route with your finger, you can easily map out a route, and then see if your best laid plans work out.
Sure enough, the addition of further trains opens up the gameplay enormously, and requires you to figure out how best to overlap the track, or even merge tracks in such a way that the incoming trains don't crash en-route. And once colour mixing comes into play, the puzzles become furiously engaging.
Now available at a third of its original price, Trainyard is yet another exceptional puzzle app to add to your growing pile. Absorbing, challenging and unlike anything else out there, buy it and soothe away the stresses of public transport.
9/10