AMA Dress to Impress

To say boys have got their pick of shooting games to choose from would be an understatement. They've basically got their pick then about two thousand more, so I see nothing wrong with the Teen Vogue-reading cross section of mobile gamers getting a game about fashion.

Strictly speaking, though, AMA Dress to Impress isn't really a game. There are a couple of mini-games in it – ironically one of which has you shooting at shoes, handbags and cash that are scrolling across the screen – but the bulk of the rest of it is more like having one of those hideous toy doll head things you put make up on and How To Look Good Naked's Gok Wan in your pocket. Which isn't necessarily a negative observation, depending on what you're after.

Several modes are included, but by far the most comprehensive is the Get Hot option. Here, you're given four different occasions (a shopping trip to the mall, going to college, a dinner date and a party) and let loose on a wardrobe full of clothes and an array of hairstyles and make-up. Your goal is to make your Ashlee Simpson-esque avatar look as good as possible, with a successful outfit winning you more spending points to splash out on new clothes for your wardrobe.

You might think judging whether an outfit works or not is a little subjective, but somehow the game does reach a fairly accurate conclusion. I have no idea how, but when I put some effort into matching each garment I did score higher than just slinging on any old rag, so it does work.

A little disturbingly, that score is decided on by two leery men sprawled on a sofa who offer a thumbs up or down and hold up a score card. Which I'm not sure sends out the strongest girl power message, but I am prepared to overlook a fickle objective of choosing clothes solely to impress the opposite sex in a game about buying handbags and high heels.

This process is repeated for each of the four occasions and – depending on how long you choose to spend picking out coloured eye-liner and lipsticks – doesn't last too long. But there is some replay value offered by being able to buy different clothes in order to create different outfits each time you play.

At this point too, it's worth pointing out everything in the game (your avatar and particularly the clothes) looks really nice. The game's gone for a realistic, almost photographic approach so it's like being able to cut out photos of clothes from magazines and put them all together. The choice of clothes isn't too shabby either, although you won't find anything too wacky on offer.

Onto the game's other modes, however, and sadly none are as playable as Get Hot. Although Hot Quiz (which asks you a series of fashion questions, then awards you a fashion rating) will keep anyone who loves the sort of multiple choice quizzes you get in Bella magazine entertained for about five minutes.

Glamour mode, too, is useful in that it enables you to create outfits and then save them in one of the game's ten save slots. The two more traditional aforementioned mini-games included – Puzzle and Top 5 – are fairly lame, though. One is a sliding puzzle style game against the clock and another involves the aforementioned handbag shooting, neither of which you'll probably want to play more than a couple of times.

Still, as an overall package Dress to Impress sort of, er, impresses. But more for reasons that it's quite a unique, fashion experience rather than a very playable game. With a bit more choice of garments and a lengthier, better structured main game we could see ourselves spending a few hours playing to earn new clothes from the shop. As it is, it's enjoyable but short-lived. Still, on-trend fashionistas (I could so write for Grazia magazine) will probably enjoy the outfit-creation side of it for a limited time.