Ion Racer

There's something about speed and danger that really sets our jets burning. Split-second reaction times, teeth rattling acceleration, and that fine line between triumph and disaster are all inescapably cool.

Ion Racer taps into that lightning quick addiction, setting its stall firmly in the WipEout and F-Zero camp of neon-lit futuristic racers and creating a twitchy arcade dash that pits you against a series of walls and your own hand-eye coordination.

You take control of a bobbing anti-grav rocket ship, and you need to lead it through a glowing sci-fi raceway, weaving between obstacles and collecting pulsating golden balls of energy called Kions. These orbs are both currency and super charger, letting you upgrade your ship post-race and use one of your two special abilities.

Forward momentum is controlled by the game, leaving you to tilt your phone left and right, dodging the red barriers and smashing through the blue ones to accumulate points.

Tapping the icons at the bottom of the screen engages Focus mode (which slows down the action to give you more time to react) or Strike mode (which lets you bash through anything in your path).

The game gives you increasingly difficult sets of missions, easing you into the mechanics of its super-fast gameplay before laying down challenges that range from spending a certain amount of time in Strike or Focus to collecting a set number of Kions, or simply surviving for a couple of minutes.

You'll find yourself pushing to complete the tasks, and swearing like a land-locked sailor when you bash into a wall seconds away from reaching a goal. The further you get the faster your rocket ship goes, making upgrades and shield-boosting health packs essential.

Ion Racer is a fast-paced war of attrition, a bright blur of colour and sound that will test your reactions and concentration at every turn. It's also a shed-load of fun, and more than dangerous enough to scratch that speed-freak itch we all get from time to time.