Juggle! XHD

Retro has become the fashion for a lot of games in the Android arena, and although the Xperia Play wasn't originally touted as a retro-gamer's dream it’s undeniable that the simplicity of old-fashioned mini-games remains appealing.

Juggle! XHD is so simple and old skool that it could have existed in 1972 alongside Pong. It’s a very limited and shallow game, but that’s sort of the point.

Let's bounce

You control a Pong-like paddle at the bottom of the screen, while a bright, blueish square falls towards it. The aim is to keep this square in the air by bouncing it off the paddle.

Over time, more ‘balls’ appear, meaning you have to juggle them around. To add a bit of difficulty, they also get smaller as time passes. Drop all of the balls and it's Game Over.

There are three modes to play – 3 Minute Round, 5 Minute Round, and Endurance mode – but the aim is basically the same in every type. Just keep as many balls in the air for as long as possible and maybe even find time to admire the wonderfully subtle visual touches like the lines crossing the screen. Or the relaxing ‘ding’ noises when your paddle makes contact.

Joypaddle

Simplicity is Juggle! XHD’s strongest suit, but it also raises the question: why 'optimise' this for the Xperia Play at all? The touchpad and D-pad can both act as the paddle control, but neither is as responsive as the touchscreen control.

Moreover, the game is designed to be played in portrait mode, and sliding out the phone doesn’t rotate the game screen – not even the score or the timer turns. After Denki Blocks Deluxe XHD, this is the second Denki game by Jakyl that isn't optimised for landscape mode.

There isn’t a lot of depth to the game, and it’s not going to impress anyone expecting more than what could have been achieved in mechanical terms almost four decades ago. But Juggle! XHD does exactly what it’s designed to do, resulting in enjoyable arcade homage, albeit one that doesn't quite fit on the Xperia Play.