Cordy

Picture it: you’re on your way to work on Monday and you just want to forget the world exists. A fast-paced game is always the answer.

Whether you’re panicking with breakneck bricks in Tetris or accelerating alarmingly quickly in Asphalt, there’s nothing like a speedy morning. That’s why they call it 'rush hour'. Possibly.

With this in mind, Cordy is a solid addition to the speed freak’s collection, combining the welcome element of running-really-quite-fast with a tried and tested platforming formula.

You take control of Cordy, an agile robot shaped like a TV set who must run around a selection of 27 levels in a bid to restore power to the planet he lives on.

Players are awarded a star for levels in one of three ways: one star for collecting all the gears, one for beating the level within a certain time limit, and one for simply passing the level.

The levels themselves are often very short, so the three-star reward system is a satisfying way of encouraging completists to play through the game several times.

Cordy is a nippy wee machine, which is often a problem in platformers when you can’t see what obstacle is coming up next. Thankfully, this flaw is largely avoided thanks to easy-going level design and Cordy’s responsive controls.

There are no harmful enemies to run into so you won’t break your stride in a frustrating Sonic fashion (in fact, it’s impossible to die).

That’s not to say there's no challenge. You’ll have to combine perfectly timed jumps with swift swings from your grappling hook to reach your destination.

On top of that there are boxes and balls to push and pick up as well as adorable, harmless robot crab-things to displace and use as portable trampolines.

The Circle button acts as the context-sensitive control for grappling, which is a little easier than the touchscreen controls since you can hold your finger over it indefinitely without accidentally triggering anything.

LittleBigPlanet is an obvious inspiration for the character of Cordy and the cutesy, well-animated world he inhabits. The wavy hills, colourful trees, and swaying hot air balloons hanging in the background all brighten up the world in a similar way.

Indeed, it helps to think of Cordy as a miniaturised and reduced version of Media Molecule’s hit, with a few mobile-centric changes.

For instance, the character customisation is still present but a lot of the costume content has to be bought from the in-app store and none of it actually makes any difference to the game, apart from making your character look a little shinier.

In the end, Cordy will appeal to fans of cutesy platformers and to those who enjoy perfecting a good speed run. To some others, it’ll be over too quickly, but when you run this fast that’s hardly a surprise.