2-bit Cowboy Rides Again - Spurred on

Much like its predecessor, 2-bit Cowboy Rides Again appears to be labouring under the misapprehension that it's a Game Boy title.

It has green-hued pixelated graphics, a very old-school platform and exploration feel, and a traditional left/right/leap/shoot control scheme.

Only the Western background music (rather than it being chip tune) gives the game away.

There's a snake in my iPhone

This familiarity holds the game in good stead when getting started, especially for newcomers. You leap about, shooting things up, collecting cowboy bling, and occasionally stumbling upon missions.

Mostly these involve collecting or killing all of a specific item within the current level. For example, you find lost sheep or local wayward chickens, shoot all the rattlesnakes, or gun down a local gang.

None of this is especially imaginative, but the missions at least keep you occupied and stave off the temptation to immediately scoot to the exit.

A little bit horse

For the most part, though, the game's a sedate affair. The lack of time limits makes it easy to edge along in relative safety.

Occasionally, sleepy platform larks are shaken up by a section where you ride a horse or a leapy minecart.

Most deaths during review, though, came from the slightly iffy controls, which failed a bit too often for a platformer.

The game's charms will stop you stabbing your device's Home button even in the event of such unfair deaths - at least for a while.

But even though it opens up fairly quickly, introducing new foes and backgrounds, it still feels samey over its dozen levels.

Not a bad game, then, but one that's hard to highly recommend, not least when more engaging titles like Cally's Caves 3 exist on the platform.

2-bit Cowboy Rides Again - Spurred on

A quite-nice sequel to a quite-nice original, but this Cowboy's from Sleepyville rather than Excitement Gulch
Score
Craig Grannell
Craig Grannell
Craig gets all confused with modern games systems with a million buttons, hence preferring the glass-surfaced delights of mobile devices. He spends much of his time swiping and tilting (sometimes actually with a device), and also mulling why no-one’s converted Cannon Fodder to iPad.