Jeff Minter's new iPhone game Deflex
Heard it through the bovine.
What the bleating hell is this? Why it's the return of Tempest 2000 and Space Giraffe maker Jeff Minter, who's making a new game for iPhone called Deflex.
It's an iOS adaptation of a game as old as I am: Superdeflex from 1982.
Touch Arcade's preview describes a bonkers Breakout-style game with oxen, bulls, smileys and telephones rather than floating bricks. And rather than have a sliding paddle at the bottom of the screen you're given control of bats that don't appear until you press a button. Each press produces a bat that whacks the ball 90 degrees. Each subsequent bat flips the orientation of the existing bat.
Couple that mind bending mechanic with Minter's trademark psychedelic colour palette for an idea of what to expect.
Note that Touch Arcade reported being "lost at sea" in Deflex until the formula clicked, which sounds a lot like divisive PC and XBLA game Space Giraffe.
Eurogamer's Space Giraffe review awarded 6/10 on XBLA.
Retro Gamer caught up with Jeff Minter for a personal demonstration. The YouTube video of the encounter is below.