Bubble Town 2

Bubble Town 2 features neither bubbles nor towns, so anyone expecting a complex city building game based in a bath will be sorely disappointed.

If a puzzle game based on the classic Puzzle Bobble template is what you’re after, though, there’s every chance that this sequel to last year’s well-received title will make a positive splash.

The aim is to fire your ‘borbs’ - disembodied heads to you and I - from the cannon at the bottom of the screen in order to match three of the same type on the board. You have a limited amount of ammo that, when exhausted, lowers the screen and replenishes your stock. If one of the borbs reaches the line at the bottom it’s Game Over.

It’s a very simple concept that can be grasped within seconds. In case you do get stuck, though, there are plenty of helpful tips available and new concepts are introduced in an easy to follow fashion during the course of the game.

These new concepts include obstacles like black holes and lumps - evil disembodied heads - that both help and hinder the player, as well as a large selection of power-ups.

Using the power-ups, and planning your shots in general, is made painless thanks to the excellent controls and helpful trajectory markers. While at times it feels a little too easy to perform a crazy multiple rebound shot, in general the system works well.

Which is just as well because the game’s difficulty soon ramps up until even one missed shot can cost dearly. For the sequel, I-play has increased the number of levels from the original's 32 to a rather meatier 45, but, disappointingly, this still won’t take much longer than a few hours to play through.

It helps that those few hours are spent in the company of some charming graphics and animation. Each of the borbs yawns, smiles and grimaces as you play, adding a great deal of character to the normal generic ball/bubble template.

On a less positive note, however, the noise made when the borbs match sounds like someone with arthritis cracking their knuckles. Best leave the sound off.

In a crowded marketplace, Bubble Town 2 offers enough charm and unique twists to warrant attention. But while its length is an improvement on the slight original, there still isn’t quite enough here to garner a higher accolade.