ESPGALUDA II HD

You have to admire Cave’s audacity. It's basically saying that here is the greatest shooter to grace iOS – and that if you want it, you’re really going to have to pay for it.

The thing it, it could be right. Espgaluda II HD is a thing of shoot-'em-up beauty. We’ve absolutely no idea what’s going on it – something to do with flying white-haired mutant teenagers fighting each other– but what it boils down to is blasting the hell out of stuff while picking your way through a virtual fog of bullets. So many bullets, coming at you in clumps, waves and intricate twisting mandalas of death, and half the fun lies in coolly surviving these swirling patterns of plasma. The other half’s about learning the game’s clever intricacies and maximising your score through clever use of power-ups. But here’s the thing, though: while hardcore players will be able to spend ages perfecting their technique, Cave has cleverly set it up with enough options to so that anyone can play it. Worth a tenner, though? Not to everyone, although Cave also sells the Smartphone and Arcade modes separately for a fiver each; if you’re not quite convinced, take a punt on Arcade.