Healthy Weapon

First impressions count for a lot in fighting games - just ask fans of Dead or Alive's realistic bosom physics - so it's a shame the first character you get to battle with in Healthy Weapon is wielding a limp carrot.

Ludiosity’s game has a unique twist on the brawling genre, with kid warriors duking it out armed with vegetables and fruits, and it has some charismatic pixel-art design. But the actual combat is unbalanced and the controls make a mess of the fundamentals - like giving you the ability to move freely around.

What's hard to fault is the developer's efforts to make Healthy Weapon's structure match the mechanics of the genre's heavy-hitters.

The characters all have a touch of the Scott Pilgrim comic art about them (all floppy fringes and sulky expressions), but are bestowed with their own unique weapons and move-sets.

You start off with a roster of six, but a trio of more powerful fighters is unlocked by completing Arcade mode - where they act as tough-to-beat bosses.

It's hard not raise a smile when you're squaring off against a glaring girl with two melons as boxing gloves, and every new enemy brings an innovative, vitamin-packed melee weapon to the fray.

Unlike Capcom's strong roster of fighting conversions on iOS, like Street Fighter X Tekken, Healthy Weapon has highly problematic controls.

By default, your three 'attack' buttons and all-important 'jump' icon are all on the left of the screen, which has the odd effect of making each punch you throw feel like you've selected it from a menu.

You also can't take direct control of your fighter, and - while some combos move you backwards - it's painfully common to end up jammed in a corner with opponent mashing buttons.

The controls make a bit more sense in multiplayer. Two friends - or bitter enemies - can go toe-to-toe with controls on opposite sides of the screen.

Admittedly, you'll probably both end up jabbing buttons randomly, but it's still a worthy attempt to replicate the arcade experience on Android, and particularly Android tablets.

Further bolstering the package is a range of different modes to spar with. There's a Practice arena for learning combos and a Survival challenge against endless opponents, although serious players will want to test their mettle against the masochistic Unfair version of the standard Arcade challenge.

Healthy Weapon has plenty of content and replayability. It's just a shame that the strange control system means Healthy Weapon will pull too many punches for hardcore virtual brawlers.