Rocks N' Rockets

Sometime in the not-too-distant future, a huge meteorite is going to hurtle towards Earth, and threaten to destroy everything and everyone we know and love.

At least, that's according to Rocks N' Rockets, a 2004 PC and mobile release from TikGames that's found its destructive way into the DSiWare store.

Of course, all attempts to stop the comet in its tracks have been futile, and a series of nuke strikes have simply broken the rock into thousands of pieces.

A hero is a stone's throw away

Fortunately though, there is one hope for our world - you and your trusty DS stylus (aka rocket launcher). As rocks fall from above, your task is to simply touch them before they reach the city below.

Rocks N' Rockets is very much an arcade-style blast from the past, playing out in a similar fashion to retro classic Missile Command.

The difference is, however, that Rocks N' Rockets focuses more on racking up big combos than saving the world, as taking down multiple meteors with a single rocket will earn you big points.

To add an extra tactical element to play, there are two different types of rock, covered with either ice or fire, and hence a rocket of the opposite type must be used to quench the other element.

On the flip-side, hit a fire rock with the fire rocket, and instead of blowing into pieces, it will instead increase in size. Hitting this beast with the correct rocket will split it into two smaller ones.

It may, therefore, sound like a rather bad idea to mix up your rockets - but in fact, creating extra meteors is the key to a huge score, as each rock destroyed will give you big points, especially if they are all hit with the same rocket.

Hence, what you have is a more tactical version of Missile Command, especially since you have a limited number of rockets and must balance usage accordingly.

Not so rockin'

However, this doesn't mean that Rocks N' Rockets is all that fun - we don't play Missile Command anymore for a reason, and it only managed to whet our appetite for around an hour before the repetitive action finally got too much.

The only variation in play is the number of meteors heading your way i.e. there really isn't much variety at all. Plus, there are only two game modes - the main story play and Marathon, which sees you shooting at the skies until you can take no more.

In other words, it's not that Rocks N' Rockets does anything particularly wrong, but rather that the base concept has only been taken so far.

It's not exactly a looker either, with low resolution environments and animations that attempt a retro feel, but instead seem shoddy.

Rocks N' Rockets may well satisfy your arcade hunger for tens of minutes, but it's more likely you'll rapidly become tired of saving the world, and let it crash and burn.