The best Android games this week - Shadow Blade, Tilt to Live 2, and Out There

Every Friday, Pocket Gamer offers hands-on impressions of the week's best new Android games.

It's true that the best Android games are often just weeks- or months-old iOS games. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.

In the interim between a game's App Store and Google Play launch, you get to read more reviews and get more player feedback. Oh, and the developer quite often gets the chance to carry out a few bug fixes and release some content updates in this period ready for the 'droid version.

Think we've missed a top new Android game? Shout at us with all your might in the comments section at the bottom.

Tilt to Live 2: Redonkulous
By One Man Left - buy on Android (£1.99 / $2.99)

The first Tilt to Live never surfaced on Android, so you might not have played it. But it was basically a game about pacifism.

You, a white mouse cursor, were hounded by a crowd of angry red dots and had to evade the mob until a weak-willed power-up - which might kill a few nearby foes - finally appeared.

This sequel is not like that at all. Power-ups are everywhere, so the screen quickly turns into a manic, pulsing disco of missiles, ice beams, double-ended lightsabers, bouncing meteors, and nuclear bombs.

But the dramatic change is fine by us. As we said in our Silver Award review of this one, this redonkulous follow-up "complements the first game rather than outright replacing it".

So, here's hoping the original appears on Google Play one day.

Shadow Blade
By Crescent Moon Games - buy on Android (69p / 99c)

Shadow Blade is a fast, frantic, frenetic speedrun platformer, so it's as much about beating your best time as it is about chopping up bad guys into significantly smaller bits of bad guys.

Best of all, the touchscreen controls (you can choose between broad swipes or exacting virtual buttons) never let you down, so it's always your fault when you bellyflop into a pit of spikes.

We were very impressed with this game when it wall-jumped onto iOS, calling it a "slick, deliciously violent platformer with poise and touchscreen panache" in our Gold Award review of it.

Out There
By Mi Clos Studio - buy on Android (£2.49 / $3.99)

Out There turns the item-management screen of Resident Evil 4 into a complicated, engrossing sci-fi drama of big decisions, shocking surprises, and lopped-off fingers.

It's difficult and truly unforgiving, but you'll be raring to explore another randomly generated universe when you die - even though you take nothing from your last adventure bar experience and memories of jelly monsters and vortices.

In our Gold Award review of the game, Harry said: "A vast, lonely game about space and time and death, Out There is by turns funny, exciting, and fresh."

So, if you're eagerly awaiting FTL (or found Star Command too simple), go get this game.