Kiwitiki

There's an infamous scene in the movie American Beauty that sums up Kiwitiki perfectly.

Maligned by many, the film plays footage of a plastic bag blowing around in the wind with a simple, touching elegance.

Plenty buy into this, but you could say that a bag flying around in the wind is just a bag flying around in the wind. Nice too look at, perhaps, but ultimately litter.

Kiwitiki is that very same empty bag, its platform style gameplay ridding itself of enemies, pitfalls, or even a clock. This is a game so simple in its delivery that it wants you to do nothing more than explore it and have fun.

With some of the most twee music you'll ever come across and butter-wouldn't-melt visuals that seem to sugar coat your handset's screen from the word 'go', the game's lone task is to collect flowers - flowers that are generously sprinkled throughout every stage.

These flowers are turned into points at the end of each level, and guiding your feathered friend through all of the 2D stages is a matter of running and jumping - two platforming staples handled perfectly adequately here with on-screen buttons readily placed for your thumbs.

Unlike the very best of platformers, where rings or coins are placed in areas designed to lure you into peril, Kiwitiki practically hands them to you on a plate.

This is the total antithesis of Mario and co. Kiwitiki gives you the keys to its kingdom and lets you go mad in it.

There's something refreshing about the whole experience: riding high through its stages, running at pace and scooping up whole chains of flowers big and small does have a certain thrill to it.

In a way, it's a shame many other titles don't take the same attitude, Kiwitiki choosing to celebrate the buzz that comes with instant success rather than dishing out one handicap after another.

That said, if you have it easy for too long, you soon get sick. The game's cloying style won't have you sticking around for long.

Truth be told, if you strip Kiwitiki back, it's little more than a beautifully animated environment coupled with an equally delectable soundtrack. It's too kind for its own good, the lack of any menace or challenge beyond the most generous of points targets severely limiting its shelf life.

There's essentially no way to fail from beginning to end. It's hard to say whether adding any hurdles or expanding the targets would actually improve gameplay or simply drag Kiwitiki into an already crowded market, stripping it of any freshness in the process, but as it stands its hard to view it as anything but a curious, candy coated, snippet of soulless fun.