International Track & Field

When you actually sit down and think about it, bringing Konami’s Track & Field franchise – which has been responsible for countless broken controllers and ruined arcade cabinets over the past few decades – to Apple’s button-less iPhone sounds like a monumentally bad idea.

This is a series which has been built on the act of relentlessly hammering physical buttons in order to get the best results on-screen, so you would expect it to be a dismal failure on a device which relies so heavily on touchscreen control.

Surprisingly, this isn’t the case. International Track & Field does a marvellous job of recreating the arcade action of the original release, even if its measly five events puts a limit on the fun and lasting value.

International Track & Field features five events: 100m Dash, 110m Hurdles, Long Jump, Hammer Throw, and Pole Vault.

Each showcases a unique control method. For example, the 100m Dash has you tapping furiously on two virtual buttons to build up your speed, whereas when competing in the hurdles you have to trace a zigzag line to run with taps instructing your athlete to leap over the barriers.

The aforementioned lack of proper buttons never really becomes an issue because the controls focus on gesture commands and taps, which are easily performed on the iPhone’s capacitive display.

Learning the different control schemes, however, is challenging due the incredibly vague explanations of how to play each event. Some of the more demanding events, such as the long jump and pole vault, require far too much trial-and-error before you actually understand what's required.

Once you come to grips with the controls, you can focus on improving your technique and pushing for world record scores.

It’s here that International Track & Field excels – just as it predecessor did all those years ago. The urge to one-up your own performance is incredible. Although the game sadly lacks multiplayer of any kind, it does allow you to sign up for social gaming network Agon Online to compare scores with other players around the world.

Visually, International Track & Field is also a strong performer. In fact, the simplistic nature of the graphics effectively calls to mind the look of the original arcade machine, and fans are sure to agree that Konami has tastefully updated the concept in this new entry.

The game's main shortcoming is its lack of longevity. With only five events, it doesn't take long for boredom to set in, especially when there’s no way to link-up with friends to compete directly.

Going head-to-head was one of the undeniable highlights of the legendary PlayStation version of the game and such a feature would have made this iPhone and iPod touch instalment near-essential for fans.

As it stands, Konami has done a commendable job of refitting the existing button-mashing concept for the small screen, but a lack of variety and absence of multiplayer are sure to fritter away your interest rapidly.