iPlutoid

Back in the summer of 2006, when the International Astronomical Union declassified Pluto as one of the solar system's planets, it didn't change a thing about the little rock.

Sure, schoolchildren now learn there are eight planets in our neck of the galaxy instead of nine, but it's still the same icy body that orbits the sun.

So with its stylish 3D graphics, iPlutoid appears more than just the average shooter. Like its non-planetary namesake, though, it's still subject to the same concerns as any other shooter.

iPlutoid takes a new look at the iPhone’s capability with a polygon, and puts those geometrics to real work, creating a shooter that needs 3D graphics to work - rather than wanting them just to look good.

The result is a game that’s far more playable than its competitors, handling its visuals with such ease that it could make Nintendo want to release a new model of DS in envious green.

In the game, small planetoids are populated by happy, primitive humans that wander around their farms minding their own business. The arrival of a fleet of flying saucers signals trouble - the invaders want to capture these unsuspecting farmers and mutate them into aliens. Naturally, the only thing stopping them is you - the heroically named Lieutenant Starfighter.

You take to these small planets in your accelerometer-driven fighter in order to shoot down the kidnapping aliens before the place is bereft of its human occupants. Should the innocent inhabitants reach the top of the abducting tractor beam, they're turned into more aggressive aliens themselves.

Flying is tricky at first, but it doesn’t take much practice to start gunning down aliens. You can tweak the controls in the options should you prefer to adjust the calibration yourself, but the automatic system (which recalibrates every time you start a new game) seems to do a sterling job of centring the ship before battle commences.

Despite the intuitive controls, dodging return fire is pretty tough. The flat-shaded graphics don’t allow for much depth perception when it comes to alien bullets, mines or even the different types of vessels. With some kind of active lighting or depth of field, this issue could be improved and your aerial accuracy significantly enhanced.

That said, it could also have an adverse effect on the visual style. One of the game's most impressive features is its performance. The whole planet, its occupants and invaders move with a liquid efficiency - never so much as a hiccup as the action heats up.

Unfortunately, iPlutoid never gets all that hot. It’s beautiful to watch and a delight to play, but as a shooter it finds itself a little lacking. There are no weapons power-ups, and although increasingly difficult waves of aliens attack, the planets themselves don’t really change and the variety of enemies is limited.

For a budget title, the basic gameplay and gorgeous graphics make iPlutoid a very pleasant distraction, despite the sparseness of its gameplay.