Undercover Babes

Since the dawn of civilisation, men the world over have been united in the pursuit of one noble quest: getting fair maidens to reveal themselves. Like any quest worth pursuing, the road is long and the perils plenty, with everything from cutting remarks and sarcastic laughter to open-palmed slaps and even (shudder) marriage lying in wait for the unsuspecting bachelor.

Intimidating as these dangers are, they have not, on the whole, tended to be life-threatening or included the opportunity to be vaporised by a mysterious energy fluctuation. Well, at least not in our experience. Yet the latter is exactly what faces those brave enough to seek the titular prize of Babes Uncovered.

Okay, so you don't actually get vaporised (unless your handset has a particularly dodgy battery) but your in-game avatar might.

The challenge is a variant of arcade classic Qix, and charges you with claiming sections of the screen by tracing a line of light around it with your yellow cursor. Completely surround a section and not only do you 'own' that isolated percentage of the grid, you'll also reveal a section of the naked lady beneath. Repeat until you've claimed a sufficient percentage of the screen and you'll complete the level and reveal the girl in all her glory.

Whilst the concept is simple enough, it's complicated by two things. Firstly, re-crossing the light line that you lay is as much a no-no as it was back in the days of Tron's light cycles. Secondly, there's a mysterious energy flux also wandering round the levels, which spells certain death if it touches your line of light before a section has been completed. This is complicated further by the comparatively random nature of the flux's movement – it regularly changes direction and length.

Presentation errs on the minimal side, with the lack of any audio compounding the simplicity of the visuals. However, the all-important ladies you're rewarded with are sharp, attractive and, erm, varied.

Undercover Babes lacks many of the subtleties of the original Qix or its numerous variations (newer re-hashings such as California Sexy and X-Men: The Last Stand Mindmaze add multiple enemies and power-ups, for instance) and it's easier than most, too. However, this isn't entirely to its discredit. The core mechanic shines through, providing a thoroughly entertaining game that manages to offer diversion without keeping the reward at too long an arm's length.

What's more, although the first four babes can be uncovered pretty easily, there's a definite, if gentle, difficulty hike, due to the increasing speed and randomness of the flux and the need to claim ever greater percentages of screen space.

Ultimately, Undercover Babes' appeal will depend on how hard you want to work for your entertainment, and what sort of game-to-girl ratio you're looking for. Playing the likes of Girl Gamble or simply downloading naughty pictures would be easier if the latter is your main aim. If you fancy a balance of both though, then Babes Uncovered combines a very good game with some good-looking girls. Not as entertaining as the real thing, but a good back-up for the journey home!