Bubble Town 2 (iPhone)

Before Taito's Bust-a-Move-defending lawyers start making aggressive phone calls to I-play about the all-too familiar gameplay of Bubble Town 2, it's worth noting that this bombastic match-three puzzler has its fair share of neat ideas - they just happen to be borrowed from another match-three competitor: Snood.

Your goal is to match three or more balls of the same colour using your trusty cannon located at the bottom of the screen. Called borbs, these balls produce a sound when matched that is unnervingly like someone passing wind in a bath of custard, rather than the traditional pop.

Ultimately, you want to clear the screen of borbs. Pressure is added by the fact that you only have a dozen borbs in your cannon at any given time. Once this figure reaches zero, the play area shrinks by one level. Once this happens, your stock is automatically reset to 12.

Thankfully, if you manage to dislodge borbs when matching up colours, the plummeting balls will collect in your cannon when they reach the bottom of the screen, adding to your total number of projectiles.

For instance, if you're not happy with the colour of the borb currently loaded in your cannon's muzzle then a quick shake of the phone will switch it for a different one.

Aside from the juicy sound effects, there's little to differentiate Bubble Town 2 from its competitors. Elements like sleeping borbs and an array of random power-ups work nicely, even if they aren't anything new.

The controls offer something unique, but not for the right reason. To change the aim of your cannon you simply swipe from left to right on the screen. A swift tap fires the hapless borb skywards.

Although conceptually good, the controls pose accuracy and misfire problems. Aiming is harder than it reasonably should be. It becomes a pressing issue when you get to the later levels and you find that lining up that all-important shot is frustratingly difficult.

Misfires are infrequent, but a noticeable by-product of the revised controls. Pressing a finger onto the screen to set a shot's trajectory occasionally results in the game registering your gesture as a tap, which consequently fires off a borb.

Less than ideal controls burst Bubble Town 2, but even with better controls it would hardly eclipse the online gameplay found in Snood or the superior retro style of Bust-a-Move.

If you happen to possess a penchant for hurling furry objects at other furry objects in a cartoon-like setting that looks as if it's a rejected set design from an episode of "Teletubbies," however, then chances are Bubble Town 2 will send you into fits of uncontrollable ecstasy.