App review: Graviton for iPhone

Fans of the classic physics-based arcade game Thrust will be immediately comfortable with Graviton.

Your task is to salvage energy spheres by picking them up with your little ship and battle acceleration, inertia and friction to get them back to safety. Controlling your ship can be achieved with either tilt control or an onscreen touchpad with a further touch to deliver a speed boost or drop the sphere.

Each of the sumptuous 3D levels starts with an onscreen arrow pointing towards the sphere and then it’s a race against time using both your flying skill and brain to negotiate your way back to safety.

Once you’ve handled the basics of flying, fetching and carrying you’ll have other problems to contend with, including magnetic fields that throw your ship off kilter, laser and fire beams, falling rocks and other traps and obstacles to overcome. Even this, however, doesn’t capture just how varied and inventive the gameplay can be.

For instance, collision or being hit by lasers causes your sphere to drop, and some dangers (for instance, lava) involve an immediate trip back to the start. However, some obstacles cannot be navigated without temporarily letting go of your sphere, or having the right colour of sphere to get through.

With only one available per level, this might initially appear a problem, until you discover that some mechanisms can change the colour of your sphere – simply find the appropriate door, pushing it open with your ship before guiding your precious object through it. And with 5 long, visually striking 3D levels to explore, each of which takes careful planning and patience to negotiate, it’s both challenging to play and excellent value for money.

There’s even a free Graviton Lite version available to check out first.

Graviton is a fine example of just how flexible and rewarding iPhone games have become. It’s undeniably quite short, but with this level of design you’ll be replaying it to beat your best score for weeks to come.

Verdict: 8/10

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