Radial 50

Brick-breaking arcade play comes full circle in Radial 50, a contemporary take on the classic formula that brings style and connectivity.

Rounding the edges of this well-worn concept doesn't do much to freshen things up, unfortunately. Counter-intuitive controls prevent the game from bouncing back and delivering on the promise of its stylish, albeit derivative design.

Radial 50 shapes bricks into curved panels that form a massive, multi-layered circle. Directing a small ball by means of a concave paddle, your objective is to shatter panels in order to reach a gem at the centre of the circle. Nab the diamond and you progress to the next level.

Getting through all 50 of the game's levels is a matter of skillfully manoeuvring the paddle with slides of your finger. Vertical arrows situated on the right side of the screen are tied to your paddle. Slide up and the paddle moves to its relative left; down triggers it to move right.

Needless to say, it's confusing. The tutorial admits as much, reminding you not to slide your finger left and right on the screen when trying to move the paddle. Why the game fights against.

The controls are completely counter-intuitive, which in turn makes the game artificially difficult. Touch controls are definitely the way to go since use of the accelerometer to control the paddle would be troublesome, but this is not the way to go about it.

It's immensely disappointing given the attention paid to detail. Radial 50 features wonderful music, beautiful minimalist graphics, and well-conceived networking. Scores can be uploaded online and tracked along city, state, region, national, and international lines. There are also achievements - extremely challenging ones - to entice you back.

These can't cover up the deficient controls, though. Radial 50 breaks more than just bricks, shattering the potential of a stylish, connected arcade game with unwieldy controls.