Hands on with Dungeon Hunter on iPhone

Role-playing games are hard to come by on iPhone, and good ones are even rarer, which makes Dungeon Hunter pretty intriguing. This beautiful 3D dungeon crawler has all the trappings of classic role-playing combined with the ease of touch controls.

You play as reanimated royalty, a prince who comes back to life after an early death. Tracking down the murderous fiend and recapturing your kingdom is your primary objective, naturally. Doing this means trekking across a monster-infested world and traipsing the dark recesses of a number of dungeons, one of which we've explored.

Getting through the dank catacombs haunted by living skeletons was easy enough with sword in hand and a list of magic incantations. Sliding your left thumb over a virtual analogue stick in the lower-left corner moves your hero, while tapping buttons on the right side of the screen triggers basic melee attacks and casts magical spells.

Jamming on the 'attack' button was good enough to dispatch a skeleton or two, though dealing with more meant unleashing stronger attacks to prevent a group of skeletons from swarming our hero and whittling away his health gauge. Other enemies we encountered included gelatinous slimes and a boss entitled Cremator featuring molten armour.

Naturally, the range of abilities available to you depends on your selected class. Three classes - warrior, rogue, and mage - support different styles of play. Warriors favour strength, which in turn makes them best for direct combat. Dexterity is the hallmark of a rogue suited for agile kills. Of course, the mage focuses on magic.

As with any role-playing game, defeating enemies rewards you with experience points that raise your hero's level. With each new level, you're granted points for augmenting your core attributes, as well as ability points for unlock new skills and enhancing existing ones.

You're free to dole these out however you want, though advanced skills cost more points. Additionally, increasing the level of an existing ability requires more points than simply unlocking a new one.

Equipment also plays a big role in enhancing your hero. Dungeon Hunter promises hundreds of items with which to equip your character including shields, boots, armour, robes, gauntlets, and others.

Along with improving and outfitting your hero, you can supplement your abilities by partnering with a fairy. Five in total will be available through the course of the game, each providing a unique magical spell and set of buffs. Windy, for example, unleashes a hurricane attack when summoned: additionally, she increases resistance to air-based attacks and dodge rating.

Cooperative questing over local wi-fi or Bluetooth would bestow Dungeon Hunter with added appeal, though there's more than enough gameplay in this single player adventure to keep you entertained.

If there's anything that concerns us about this fantastic-looking game, its the straightforward nature of its design. The classic vibe could point to Dungeon Hunter being more derivative than introducing any wild new ideas, but familiarity doesn't have to be a bad thing as long as it delivers fun, polished gameplay.