Cut the Rope DSi

History has taught us that when a classic title is ported from one gaming platform to another we should be wary of the results.

Sometimes it's a rousing success, while other times it's not. And then there are the releases that turn out to be real stinkers.

Cut the Rope was fantastic on smartphones, and the recent release of Cut the Rope: Experiments gave us a hankering for some more rope-cutting action - this time via DSiWare.

Unfortunately, this port to Nintendo DSi and 3DS is simply awful, with horrid frame-rate issues and nasty compressed visuals, all for a ridiculously over-the-top price.

Cut the Rope on DSiWare features the same gameplay available on iPhone, iPad, and Android.

Over a series of 125+ levels, you're asked to swipe the touchscreen to cut ropes that have a piece of candy dangling from them.

As you lower the candy, you need to swing it through three stars dotted around the levels and into the mouth of a cute green monster.

It all starts off pretty simple, but as new ideas are thrown into the mix plenty of head-scratching will occur.

Cut the Rope is very clever - ingenious at times. It can be a little trial and error on later levels, but finding a solution is always satisfying.

So far, so Cut the Rope - but unfortunately, rather than add to the original greatness, or even simply match it, this DSi version is pitiful in comparison.

From the very beginning, the terrible graphics made us want to cry. The smartphone visuals have been scaled down, leaving ugly edges everywhere that really bring the experience down.

The second screen is simply used to show which level you're on and nothing more, which is an awful waste. And then there's the slowdown, especially when swapping between levels or when there are numerous items on screen.

It's an utterly rubbish conversion that simply cannot stand up to the smartphone versions at all. Just to twist the knife a bit more, it can only be played by right-handed people, with no option to swap the system around for left-handed players like myself.

And how much can you expect to pay for this heavily impeded version?

The answer is: nearly seven times as much. While the iPhone version still sits at 69p, you'll have to fork out £4.50 for the DSi version.

If you've played Cut the Rope before, don't bother grabbing this - it's the very same game with awful visuals and a premium price tag.