Mobile Games Roundup

As some of my favourite musicians have proved, if you haven't got any ideas of your own, just go ahead and plunder the past for inspiration. It's an approach that's served Noel Gallagher pretty well over the past couple of decades, and something that game developers in the mobile space are particularly fond of.

Take this week's crop. One game goes right back to 1981 for its mechanics, while two others decide that remaking nineties classics is the way to go - sadly, one of them rips the guts out of the experience by assuming that we're all pathetic at games these days. To be fair, they're probably right.

The remainder also cast backwards glances to try to get us excited, with varying degrees of success. Frankly, if you can't make the original idea better, then don't waste our time. You'll only get bitter and twisted. If you can, though, you'll be our friend forever.

Pinball Dreams HD

• iPhone/iPad: £2.99 (Universal binary)

Life was pretty good when the Amiga was around, and one of the many reasons for that was that genius games like Pinball Dreams kept falling into our laps on a regular basis.

The fact that we're still going on about DICE's classic almost 20 years on tells its own story. Arguably the first pinball simulator to be as entertaining as the real thing, it retains a timeless appeal, and is just as fun now as it was way back when.

But with Cowboy Rodeo's 2009 iPhone remake having already been bathed in acclaim, what, pray, is the point of this? Plenty, as it turns out.

Firstly, all four tables have been completely reworked in 3D, with claims of silky smooth 60FPS definitely on the money.

By default, you see the action from a simulated player's eye view, and the view sweeps around according to the position of the ball. But if you prefer static 3D, or 'classic' top-down 2D view, you can opt for those as well.

And with online leaderboards, Game Center integration and universal iOS support, it works even better on iPad, as you'd expect. It might not quite usurp the mighty Pinball HD as the definitive iOS pinball game, but it's still worth it for anyone who enjoys a liberal dose of Amiga-related wallowing in their spare time.

8/10