I am fairly new to the world of mobile gaming.  I've kicked it off by spending some time playing Platypus, a side scrolling shoot-em-up based on the PC and Mac game from Idigicon.  I wasn't sure what to expect from this mobile game recreated by Astraware, but it turns out I was fairly surprised by this experience.

The first thing you might notice are the graphics in Platypus.  They look different than you would have expected due to the way the developers created them.  They took the original models from the previous game, created them in clay and then colored them.  It gives it a sense of realism without taking away from the cult feel that the original game had.  The background is done in the same style as well.  What is really nice to see is that the far distance of the background  moves faster than the foreground.  It slows down layer upon layer towards the front creating a 3d surrealism that I just did not expect for a side scroller on a mobile device.

Gameplay is simplistic in nature.  Move the ship around the screen and shoot everything in front of you or the occasional ship that sneaks up behind you as well.  The game is setup to be viewed horizontally which is actually what I had been hoping for.  It would be too difficult to keep track of enemies on a vertical screen, much less have room to move around.  Moving can be done with both with a stylus or the five key.  I preferred to use the stylus as my keys were too small to accurately control the ship.  One caveat  I discovered was that I had to hold my hand above my mobile holding the stylus sideways in order to avoid covering the screen.  Thus I really wish there was a way to flip the screen giving it a right hand mode.  This would have been something that I think would have been easily implemented as the game would just be mirrored.  Besides the normal supply of extra ships, there were extra plays available in case I depleted my supply at the cost of my current score.  No need to restart the level as it just continues right along its course. 

One last thing I think you might notice is this game's sound.  It emulates the styling of classic Commodore 64 games.  Everything from the soundtrack to the sound effects are really quit nice and create a triangle of awesome with the gameplay and graphics.  It is perfect for quick casual play but interesting enough if you want to play it for a longer time.  I can highly recommend that if you buy this game you will not want to get rid of it, but to have, hold, and cherish it.

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