Format: iPhone

Release date: 06/08/2009

Price: £1.79

Official site: bitforge Ltd

A large proportion of the time it’s the simplest of gaming concepts that flourish on the good old handheld gaming platforms. A simple yet time devouringly addictive set of rules that keep us up until the wee small hours slouched over our glowing handheld devices.

Orbital immediately drops slap bang into my good books by mimicking the gloriously neon coloured design seen in the phenomenally brilliant Geometry Wars series. Technically it might not hit the heady heights that others may crave to gorge upon, but there’s something unnervingly beautiful about bitforge’s offering that can’t fail but keep you hooked.

The gameplay is simple. As a small turret slowly twist left and right at the bottom of the screen, you’re required to fire balls into the grid above. Once these balls stop, they’ll expand until they hit an obstacle, before containing a number “3” and allowing you to take your next shot.

Your task then is to hit this expanded ball three times until it is destroyed and you attain a point. The risk being that each ball you blast out towards destroying your previous shots will also plant itself and expand, populating the game area. The only way to lose is to allow a ball to drop back over the ‘Death Line’ which protects your cannon from the area above.

It’s phenomenally simple, even when you take into account the two game modes which either add or subtract a fantastic representation of gravity. Yet it’s devilishly tricky, particularly if you struggle with the patience required to wait for the cannons aim to allow a perfect shot.

Fully fledged leader boards, and even Facebook connectivity round off a tremendous overall package. Highly recommended.

Rating: 4.5/5