Orbitsu

I don't know why, but when it comes to games we all seem to have a strange fascination with matching up coloured balls. I can personally guarantee you that if you line up three white golf balls, or three bright orange basketballs - right now - nothing magical will happen. They won't fill with starlight or suddenly dematerialise.

Yet, such enchanted happenings are pretty much commonplace in games, and Flying Dino's Orbitsu is a play upon that theme. As coloured spheres orbit around a star system, the game challenges you to fling yet more coloured orbs into the rotation, matching them up - you guessed it - in groups of three.

Quite beautifully presented, the basic premise of Orbitsu is that you launch spheres from the edge of the screen, aiming them at same-coloured orbs circling in the centre.

On the easiest setting, holding down your finger on the sphere brings up a targeting system that shows just where your orb will land. You can also drag your orb around the edge of the screen pre-launch so you can determine just where to fire it.

All you have to do then is let go of the orb and watch it fly towards its destination. When batches of three of the same colour spheres meet, they explode. Any left hanging off this main pack become charged, glowing brightly and ready to explode if paired up with just one other matching sphere.

You can also set off chain reactions, where orphaned pairs charge up and sweep back into the main system, often taking out orbs as they smash into in the middle.

Add in nova-charged orbs that blow up any surrounding spheres and rainbow orbs that can act as any colour you like, and you can imagine just how hectic and complex things get.

They can get a whole lot more feverish, too. While Arcade mode presents you with puzzles to solve, Survival mode is far more random and relies on using a little guile to last as long as you can.

Everything is ramped up, spheres changing direction from the get-go and the game rhythmically adding new orbs to the melting pot with the passing of each stage. Even on Easy, things can get frighteningly difficult.

On the ultra hairy Ninja difficulty, it becomes a different ball game entirely: the board spins around at a fearsome rate, fresh orbs chucked into the pool in the blink of an eye. It's the kind of tough challenge that will keep those who wish to master Orbitsu playing for hours, if not days or weeks. Anyone who manages to notch up a ten digit score will deserve our collective respect.

Unfortunately, more than the setting plays a role in making Orbitsu difficult. Targeting stirs up trouble, acting as if it's on some delay. Spheres frequently land later on than intended. It also hits dodgy ground if the spheres decide to change direction mid-aim.

No doubt an intended test rather than an accidental one, the two elements together do create a feeling that success relies on you making allowances for the targeting system, rather than triumphing over it.

Newcomers will probably find this less of an issue than ball-busting-maestros. While the likes of Zuma, Puzzloop or Bubble Bash are arguably a step ahead of Orbitsu revolving revolution, Flying Dino's solar star won't be without its own fanatics.