Super Bit Dash

Speaking as someone whose personal golden age of video gaming was spent with a certain 64-bit console, I can say without a hint of nostalgia-induced bias that Super Bit Dash is a very handsome game indeed.

In other words, you needn't don rose-tinted specs to enjoy the game's 8-bit aesthetic. Even if you're unfamiliar with the NES and a stranger to the Master System, Super Bit Dash's chunky sprites are still charming.

Equally, the success of Super Bit Dash's 2D platforming relies on mechanical ingenuity and precision rather than any precious memories of grey plastic and cartridge-blowing.

Classic mode is the game's main attraction, and it has you charging through a randomly generated level attempting to nab coins and not die.

But as well as jumping, your pixellated protagonist can also 'dash' vertically or horizontally around the screen with a touch of the D-pad. This gravity-defying feat allows for rapid manoeuvrability, but each dash depletes an energy meter which requires coins to refill.

The system offers a precisely balanced mix of mobility and limitation, and while you might be able to reach any point on-screen with ease the danger is that you'll expend all your energy getting there.

It ensures a lively risk/reward mechanic, too, in which sticking to the straight and narrow is appreciably easier, but tantalising clusters of coins are always tempting you to over-extend yourself in pursuit of profits.

And coins are much more than just store currency in Super Bit Dash. They power your dashes - without which you feel hobbled and vulnerable - and as per classic platformer tradition you can collect 100 of the shiny trinkets to be awarded a 1up.

With the occasional death almost inevitable, coin collection is a prime directive rather than peripheral concern. Without a steady income, you'll quickly find yourself short on lives and struggling to keep up with the quickening pace.

But even as you accelerate from brisk jog to careening sprint, Super Bit Dash's controls never let you down.

On its Android and iOS release, players found the game's gesture controls to be accurate and intuitive, but Xperia Play owners benefit from the additional precision and tactility that only comes with physical controls.

Endless mode offers another dash-based platforming fix for those with a little more time on their hands, while the skilled and the masochistic can try their hands at Hard mode versions of each game type.

Finally, a store has alternate avatars and power-ups for sale, giving Super Bit Dash addicts something to spend all those coins on. It's a slightly superficial addition, though, and the high prices of available items does undermine the pleasure of play a little.

But if you can accept a smartphone title without a well-implemented meta-game you'll discover an elegant and compact experience in Super Bit Dash, with tight platforming matched by some smart mechanics.