Yu A Warrior Tale

Action-packed platformers aren't anything new to older gamers, that's a certainty. Chances are you've already got one of them included in your own batch of mobile games, ready for when you desire a nice frenetic gaming hit.

The problem is, how do you weed out the dross from the top-quality titles when they all look and sound the same at a glance? Well, that's what Pocket Gamer's here for. It's why we make the big bucks. (Really? Review that man's contract immediately – Ed.)

You get a promise of Yu A Warrior Tale's quality right from the start up screen – a rolling message that declares the game was sponsored by the French National Centre of Cinematography. Not something you'd expect Labour to do to help out our British game developers.

For all that, though, Yu doesn't do anything new in terms of story, so don't go expecting anything rivalling a bit of Speilberg, let alone Jean Luc Goddard. Nope, it's all about revenge for your fallen comrade. Not that we fancy reading reams of text on our mobiles, of course.

Thankfully, the visuals boost the quality a touch, with some colourful and nicely detailed levels and characters to ogle. They aren't quite up there with the very best action characters currently on offer, but they certainly capture the Far Eastern look that the game clearly wants to offer up. That said, the backdrops get a bit repetitive over time, so don't expect new visual treats every few minutes.

Nice looks aren't the only bit of aesthetic quality Yu boasts. The music consists of a catchy hummable tune, and the sound effects are of a decent enough standard. Again, you won't hear anything ear splittingly stunning, but they're certainly a lot better than some of the gaming sounds we've heard over the years.

Gameplay-wise it's also a familar affair. Flinging long-range weapons is the option of choice for those eager to keep all lives intact, but short range hack-and-slashes are available for those wishing to speedily rush their way through each of the game's seven levels. This combination of long and short range weaponry means Yu is a game you can mostly play at your own pace.

It's not all blossom and sake, unfortunately. Despite Yu's action-based DNA, there's also a lot of pixel-perfect jumping you'll need to perform if you want to tie everything up in a neat little bow. Having to line up a certain jump to absolute perfection while an enemy tosses bombs in your general direction can be a frustrating experience.

With its seven levels, it's safe to say that those eager to rush through the game will get their money's worth in a mere hour or so. That said, depending on what kind of gamer you are – or if you're happy to play through the levels all over again – there's a whole heap of collectables dotted around every level that will take you an age to obtain in their entirety, so the title will keep you entertained for longer than it might otherwise.

Balancing up the yings and the yangs, Yu A Warrior Tale is a hard one to truly recommend. It's got all the right qualities, but there's just something a little off there that leaves you pondering why you're bothering.

Perhaps it's the awkward jumps, or maybe it's the lack of length to the game, but it all adds up to a title that while slightly better than average, still sits well below the genre's best. Unless you prefer karate chops to gaming props, try superior action/platform games like Mission: Impossible III or Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones instead.