Mobile Games Roundup
Infinight! Infinity! Zombie! Evil! Pew!
League Of Evil
If the wall-jumping, death defying madness that was Super Meat Boy set the veins in your temple throbbing, there's a 0.001 per cent chance that Ravenous Games' take on the formula won't do the same job. What's more, over a hundred levels of hideously exacting platforming nonsense can be yours for a fraction of the price.
The developer politely reminds us that it is not responsible for any broken devices. And well it might, for League Of Evil is frantic retro exactitude at its most taxing.
As ever, it's all about getting to your goal intact and as quickly as possible. As a special agent trained in the art of punching people into little chunks, you bound and flip your way around various super secret two dimensional lairs, on the hunt for mad pixellated scientists.
You can try to cheat death and take more time trying to find the hidden suitcases, or barrel on through and kick the crap out of anyone foolish enough to bar your path. It's your choice.
The question is whether you can take the pain. The further you get, the more the game tightens the thumbscrews and does its upmost to drive you to the nearest loony bin. This game is not called League Of Evil for nothing.
8/10
PewPew
- Android - Free
- Also available on iPhone/iPad - Free
Is it possible to have too many retro-tinged twin-stick shooters in your life? It's not as if they're taking up space on your shelves is it? Besides, this one's a freebie. Let's give it the benefit of the doubt.
As is the way with these things, PewPew comes in four flavours of varying degrees of palatability. Megagore serves as the standard 'blast everything' affair, while Dodge This tasks you with collecting boxes and dodging enemies for as long as possible.
Assault sprays waves of enemies in vertical and horizontal formation and laughs repeatedly in your face. And finally, Chromatic Conflict makes it only possible to kill enemies the same colour as your ship.
There's an air of dogged competency about the package right from the off, but it's never a game that wishes to extend far beyond that. The minimalist early eighties vector-style makes for a pleasant contrast to the usual eye-frying fireworks, but it's quickly undermined by the general lack of variety and repetition. And the less said about the massive screen-hogging thumbsticks, the better.
In a market where even some of the best games cost next to nothing, it's hard to get too excited about something that rarely gets out of second gear.
5/10