Spirit HD

There are some games you buy for the addictive gameplay, some because they’re cheap, and some simply because they’re a showcase for your mobile’s graphical prowess.

With its high score-chasing formula, wallet-friendly price, and neon-drenched, smooth-as-silk graphics, Spirit ticks all of these boxes and consequently deserves a spot in any Android gamer’s mobile arcade.

Developer Marco Mazzoli’s Geometry Wars-flavoured title was first released on iOS last year, with the iPad version garnering the most interest – the game’s unique non-blasting method of dispatching enemies works best on generously-proportioned screens.

The basic mechanic, in which you encircle waves of multi-coloured foes in loops that create temporary black holes to suck them to their doom, relies on your zipping your ship around the 2D space map with a thumb or finger.

It’s an intuitive, accurate way to overcome the trials and tribulations of the average virtual D-pad setup, yet on smaller screens like the iPhone, even those with slender, pianist fingers would be hard pushed to see more than two-thirds of the screen at a time.

This obscuration is far less of an issue, naturally, on the larger 4.3-inch displays now favoured by Android-powered handsets and on the 10-inch Honeycomb tablets.

Still, once the action ramps up and the screen swarms with enemies, there will be more than a few times when you’ll curse the game for making you guess what’s going on beneath your digits.

Spirit HD challenges you to master a trio of game types, throwing in a simple tutorial to help you get to grips with the basics, such as chaining combos by deploying black holes in rapid succession.

Classic mode ramps up the difficult steadily, with new enemy types (like laser-firing turrets that crisscross the screen with deadly beams) constantly being introduced to increase the pressure.

Extreme is, as you would expect, a more unforgiving version of Classic. It bombards players from the opening seconds and, understandably, will only appeal to hardcore players who relish a brutal challenge.

Finally, Pulse ditches the encircling enemies mechanic in favour of chasing glowing orbs around the screen that, when hit, turn into black holes to draw enemies to their doom.

It’s perhaps the gentlest of the three, as you only have to nip between assailants (rather than around them in risky circles), so is well worth a look if you find the standard modes a touch too tricky.

With its zippy wireframe looks and ambient techno soundtrack, Spirit HD is quick to draw you in. Once you’ve got to grips with the three modes, though, there’s precious little to keep you playing.

While the core gameplay is a seriously fun spin on the retro blaster template, the only long-term appeal lies in beating your own high scores.

Games like Spirit HD desperately need online leaderboards and achievements to keep you interested in returning, so it’s disappointing that neither is included as yet.

It’s here that Mazzoli’s title stumbles when compared to the likes of PewPew 2, where a sense of progression is palpable and adds to the game’s longevity.

Spirit HD, therefore, makes a stunning first impression, but can't sustain the kind of excitement and lure that keeps players hooked on its rivals for days not hours.