Cannon Cat

If firing cute, cuddly animals out of siege engines were an Olympic sport, then millions of gamers around the world could use the excuse that they were in training for the big event when they were caught playing smartphone games at inopportune moments.

Cannon Cat is the latest in a gargantuan line of creature flingers, and while it has its moments and brings with it the necessary amount of feline charm it doesn't quite do enough to set itself apart from the horde.

Cat o' nine cannons

After some disgruntled birds steal all the fishes, our titular hero takes it upon himself to get them back. Eschewing conventional rescue methods, he decides to fire himself out of cannons in the general direction of the fish to set things to rights.

It's your job to tap the screen and fire the moggy from cannon to cannon, collecting stolen fish along the way. Things start off sedately, with stationary cannons and easy-to-reach fish bobbing gently around, but pretty soon you'll be dodging birds, bouncing off spinning blowfish, and thinking hard about how to nab all the tiddlers on the level.

Moving cannons make pixel-perfect timing essential, and a little too often your feline friend will go soaring past his intended target before disappearing to an unpleasant death off-screen. You can spend the fish you collect on special powers, but they're expensive, and you'll rarely find a use for them in the 80 levels on offer here.

Don't do what Donny Don't does

The game doesn't quite get the balance right between frustration and success. The buzz you get for finishing a level can't alleviate the annoyance you feel after shooting a cat a few pixels wide of the mark eight or nine times.

Throw in a few bugs and a repetitive nature and you're left with a package that just isn't up to scratch.

If Cannon Cat was an Olympic sport, you'd be disappointed to have gotten tickets for it. It's not terrible, but its high points are few and far between, and its few new ideas aren't enough to keep you interested.