Top 10 best Tegra-enhanced Android games

If you've snapped up one of those fancy new Tegra-powered devices like the HTC One X or the Asus Transformer Prime, you'll want some amazing games to show it off.

The Google Play Store stocks some cracking games, but Nvidia's Tegra Zone is where you'll find titles that really push your dual- or quad-core Tegra device to its limits.

Then again, not all Tegra Zone games are created equal (hello, the disastrous Big Top THD). So, we've sifted through the premier destination for Tegra-optimised games to find those titles that really showcase your device's graphical grunt.

No amount of pinching will wake you up from the fact that GTA III - a title as controversial as it was revolutionary when it debuted on consoles - is a nigh-on perfect port of the free-roaming crime caper, which runs impeccably on Tegra devices.

The touch controls can be a mite fiddly, though, so why not splurge on a USB controller (or a micro-USB adaptor) to make the killing sprees a little easier?

Chances are, we will never see Gears of War on an Android phone. But, wipe those tears away, because Shadowgun THD is here to wash away those Horde-less blues.

This stunning-looking cover shooter is crammed to its metallic gills with explosive action and legions of tough enemies to mow down.

Shadowgun THD comes in Tegra 2 and 3 flavours, with the latter version getting graphical tweaks like console-quality water and fancy pants particle effects.

While the gameplay, with its unrefined Infinity Blade-style regeneration system, is a tad repetitive and derivative, the Tegra-enhanced version of this survival-horror title is a breathtaking sight to behold.

Still, for the first hour or so, it's worth poking around the game's lovingly rendered, psychologically twisted setting - until you hit the inevitable freemium paywall, anyway.

For those who think that traditional tower defence is just too easy, the Dungeon Defenders series popped up to throw frantic third-person action into the mix. Not to mention a multi-button, menu-heavy control scheme that could generously be described as 'convoluted'.

Yet, for those willing to persevere, there's a deep action-RPG to get stuck into, replete with lavish Unreal-powered visuals that give even the recent PC incarnation a solid run for its money.

It might be nearly a year old, but there are few games that can touch Riptide GP for the 'wow' factor - especially when you hook up your device to an HD telly.

The game's main star is the realistic water physics that bounce your jet ski around like a toy duck in a bath - as well as splashing realistically across the screen.

This jet ski racer also contains a range of showboating tricks and difficulty settings that really ramp up the challenge.

With leaves gently fluttering down onto the bloodstained streets of feudal Japan, Madfinger's martial arts battler is a feast for the eyes that also puts your reflexes to a serious test.

The virtual joypad and buttons setup makes pulling off combos relatively easy, so you'll soon be carving through enemy flesh with gory grace.

In space, no one can hear you drool. Which is handy if you're playing the dashingly designed Galaxy on Fire THD in orbit (but, less helpful if you're on a bus).

The somewhat clunky combat in this ultra-deep space shooter / trader game is the weakest link. Then again, you'll spend most of your time distracted by the detailed Tegra-enriched textures of planets, meteors, and floating space debris.

The slicing and dicing of the contents of a fruit salad has never looked or felt as satisfying as it does in this Tegra-tweaked version of Halfbrick's mega-hit.

If you've not played Fruit Ninja before - which would be quite the feat - then listen up. Well, read. Use your finger to cut up pieces of fruit and skip the bombs. Easy.

What can compete with dicing up mangos against the clock, against backdrops so sharp you'd swear some juice had sprayed on your screen?

Like twin-stick shooters? Well, Guerrilla Bob's Rambo-like mission is a short but jam-packed action epic, featuring plenty of bad-guy slaughter and some tough-as-nails bosses.

Although Angry Mob's classic hasn't been optimised for the Tegra 3 yet, the added bloom, real-time lighting, and hi-res textures in this edition are still a giant step-up from the vanilla Android version.

There have been plenty of pinball sims over the years, though few have ever captured the physical joy of bumper-to-bumper action as well as Zen Pinball.

This, therefore, is one of those rares titles that actually feels like the real deal. Some have quibbled about the slightly-too-bouncy ball, but we were too busy scouring the lushly detailed tables for bonus point opportunities to really notice.