Mobile Games Roundup

Ragdoll Blaster 2 HD

• iPad - £2.99
• iPhone - £0.59

We all know how much the world enjoys flinging things with abandon in the wild hope that everything will come crashing down around our ears. Perhaps the mood of the economic meltdown has lured us into a microcosm of destruction.

More likely is that physics-based smash-ups strike that fine balance between challenging and rewarding, and Backflip Studio's take is even more hopelessly addictive than the mighty Angry Birds.

Part of its instant appeal is the way Ragdoll Blaster 2 takes a less finicky approach to the business of destruction, allowing you to fling as many ragdolls as it takes to hit your elusive target.

Clearly, the challenge is to reach the target using as few throws as possible, but it doesn't force you to start all over again as soon as you've run out of 'ammo', instead letting you keep on chucking for as long as it takes you to succeed. This simple decision alone makes it more appealing, while the ability to skip a problematic puzzle means that you'll get the chance to see the whole game rather than hit a brick wall and give up.

With the solution often more complex than it appears, finding the right angle and appropriate force to set off the required chain reaction takes tenacity and determination. And with each bite-sized challenge so perfectly set up, it feels like the sort of game you'll happily keep stored to fill those inevitable moments of boredom.

At 59p on iPhone (or for £2.99 if you fancy the deluxe iPad version), it's not hard to see why Ragdoll Blaster 2 is one of the most admired apps out there.

8/10

Return To Mysterious Island - Deluxe Edition

• iPad - £2.99
• iPhone - £1.79

For the love of God, never get washed up on a desert island. The chances are you'll spend endless hours fashioning possibly useful items out of random tat while muttering to yourself about why it didn't work out.

As a social experiment, Anumen's latest PC to iPad port provides fascinating insight into the madness of the adventure gamer and how prepared we are to invest vast amounts of time doing incomprehensible things. We'll delight in endlessly combing areas for objects, before combining our growing pile of crap in obscure fashion in the name of entertainment.

If you've already surrendered yourself to this oddball past time, then there's no denying that the iPad provides an ideal retirement home for PC games past their prime. But while the process of trawling for items in crisp, detailed environments suits the iPad more than the iPhone, this is still a survivor from the dark past of adventure gaming that was overlooked in 2004 for good reason.

With its insistence on convoluted item combinations comprising most of the 'game', it's hardly surprising that a step-by-step playing guide is provided. Without it, RTMI would be even more tedious than it already is. One that only die-hard adventure completists will eke any dregs of satisfaction from.

4/10