Snoopy: The Flying Ace

Momentum. A successful racer has to have a good handle on momentum. Most of the time, that momentum relates to speed, and the mobile already has plenty of nifty titles that rely on you moderating your pace.

In terms of this skywards adventure for Snoopy, that momentum is translated as height, and more particularly your rate of ascent. It's a design decision that opens up play to a wider audience, slowing things down a little without losing… well, momentum.

But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. The question of just how and why Peanuts' front-man (or dog, in fact) ends up in the sky, flying on his dog house, is a pertinent one. In truth, Snoopy takes to the air to try and collect enough balloons in order to fly Woodstock's nest back up to one of the top tree branches. Its not exactly the most watertight of plots, but it matters little – essentially, play is about moving Snoopy up and down in the air, picking up said balloons while also avoiding the numerous traps and hazards littered around the skies.

With acceleration taken care of, your only input comes in the form of the '5' key. Holding it down causes our four-legged friend to ascend (the longer you hold it, the steeper his ascent becomes), while letting it go causes Snoopy to head back down to earth again. With red balloons scattered, usually in chains, throughout the sky, your job is to moderate Snoopy's height so that he picks up as many of them as he can.

Each level, which consists of three stages each, comes with its own target number – the number supposedly required to get Woodstock back on his perch – but play is more than just about following a trail of balloons, with plenty of other elements beginning to make their presence known as the levels pass.

Fluffy white clouds will halt your progress skywards, for instance, while grey thunder clouds cause you to lose a balloon on contact. There are also whirlwinds that add a pelt of pace to your progress, kites that can tangle you up (snatching a balloon in the process) and tankards of root beer that help you climb quicker, amongst a whole band of other oddities.

Snoopy: The Flying Ace is basically a series of temptations – little treats and power-ups strategically placed in areas that could easily result in you flying slap bang into an obstacle, losing those all important balloons one by one, as a result. But this is not a game where prudes have bragging rights – the set-up of Snoopy's skywards adventure positively encourages risk taking, making the most of the easily attainable balloon targets and letting you replay any of the levels you've already tackled to try and up both your tally and score.

Yes, Snoopy: The Flying Ace does come with a score – generated by speeding through rings of stars, open barns or knocking over stars from Peanuts – but picking up balloons is your main target, and with the option of performing a loop-de-loop also thrown in for good measure (achieved by double tapping the '5' key, and not just for show, either, with many of the balloons only reachable by performing such a showy act). It's pretty damn fun doing so, too.

All of the levels are remarkably well designed, with rain, snow and even night all playing their part during your time in the air. The obstacles gradually ramp up, but never at an uneven pace, and the variety of bonuses and pitfalls on offer means play is never any less than solidly entertaining. It looks good (this is as close to playing out a real Peanuts cartoon as you're ever likely to get), it plays exceedingly well, and while all you're essentially doing is rising and falling, Snoopy: The Flying Ace has the momentum needed to keep you flying for some time to come.