Nemo's Aquarium

If you think keeping fish in tanks is cruel, you may not like the idea of one being squashed into your mobile phone: the screen-to-fish ratio is of disturbing proportions. If you're less electronically-ethically minded, read on.

Nemo's Aquarium is essentially a glorified Tamagotchi. The main aspect of the game, if you can call it a game, is babysitting Nemo and his friends, which involves feeding each fish its favourite food, checking the temperature and showing them love and attention.

If you do a good job, your fishy friends will grow big and strong. Unfortunately the tank doesn't increase in size to compensate for the enlarged fish, which could lead to hateful glares from any members of the animal rights lobby on your bus. Keep them happy for long enough though and they'll have the energy and stamina to escape back to the reef, just like in the movie. (The fish, that is, not the animal lovers.)

A few mini-games are thrown into the bowl, which, as you might expect, involve cartoon fish. They are mainly memory-based puzzles – don't go expecting incredible underwater action offerings – and they quickly become repetitive. Younger players trying their hand at fish-sitting will find some amusement and challenge though.

Nemo's Aquarium certainly looks bright and Disney-esque. The cute characters are brought to life with lively animation set against suitably sub-aquatic backgrounds that serve their purpose pretty well. The variety in the visuals is pretty limited though, and like the mini-games they aren't going to make your jaw drop.

When it comes to the sound, all you're given is a bitty, childlike series of chords thrown together and masquerading as music. It's like a practice class from the first lesson of a primary school's recorder group, and it's the only part of package that would be better fished out with a net and flushed down the toilet

The idea of a branded Disney character being used in this way is quite new to the world of mobile gaming. If you disregard the music and the limited mini-games and only consider Nemo's Aquarium for the actual looking-after-fish aspects, then you (sorry, your kids, but you're not fooling anyone) will certainly gain enjoyment from regularly taking care of the brightly-hued clownfish and his friends, just like any virtual pet.

There are better games like this out there, mind, with the soon-to-be-released My Dog from I-play leading the pack. But they don't feature Disney characters, and there's a certain novelty to keeping a virtual fishtank in your pocket.

And, don't forget, being a Disney game the fish won't die, saving you from having to explain the concept of mortality to a five-year-old for a little while longer yet.