Boppler

Grabbing on to the coat tails of Bust-a-Move, Boppler joins a league of imitators seeking to inflate the bubble-popping formula with its own flair. It instead deflates with shallow gameplay, a paltry slate of modes and lame presentation.

Like other bubble-busters, your goal is to clear the screen of coloured buttons. You do this by launching individual bubbles from a cannon at the bottom of the screen. Sliding a finger aims the cannon, and the cannon fires when you lift that finger up from the screen.

The problem with Boppler is that there's nothing more to the game than this - a minimum of power-ups, no additional modes, not even different backgrounds or music. It's the most basic interpretation of this style of game we've ever seen. OpenFeint support is the only thing that differentiates it from scores of superior alternatives.

Precisely what's intended to draw you into playing Boppler is a mystery. It definitely isn't the presentation. Music that sounds like it was written by a Tetris-obsessed carnie and a cheesy background to match are more likely to drive you away than encourage you to play.

It can't be the controls, because they're not unique. If anything, Boppler has problems with its interface. Efforts to press the tiny 'pause' button at the top of the screen usually result in bubbles being fired from the cannon instead. The simple act of attempting to pause can end up filling the screen with bubbles and losing you the game.

Without catchy beats to bop to, pretty graphics to gawk at, or challenging gameplay to enjoy, only the desperate drive of OpenFeint achieving could lead you to entertain the possibility of purchasing this lacklustre clone.