Firstly, a clarification. This review is of the iPad version of Cosmica, a scrolling maze game which can boast freshness, fun, and challenge as parts of its quality. The denoted score is not for the iPhone version. While it boasts the same qualities, those qualities are heavily negated by that version being presently borderline unplayable.

More on that later.

Before all that, let's celebrate the derserving iPad version. It's a simple enough idea, a top-down scrolling maze game. In Cosmica, however, I have to keep my finger held on the screen at all times, dodging and weaving my way as I automatically move up through the labyrinth. It's much like how I'd hold down a pen to draw a line through a maze on paper, and it's that parallel that gives Cosmica an instant click. And yet conversely as an iOS game it feels strangely fresh (or maybe even freshly strange).

There are also little spins on traditional obstacles, things like walls that move from side to side, one-way gates, and some very knotty revolving doors. These spins, alongside the sweeping speed at which the maze scrolls down the screen, force me to stay on my toes (or in this case on my fingernail), especially given how I'm only allowed to make three errors per run. This turns Cosmica into a kind of memory game in which the maze's specific twists and turns have to be memorized, especially when there are flocks of one-way gates to be negotiated, set out in deliberately confusing, dexterity-heavy ways. It reminds me of Bit.Trip Beat, except it's not as tricky as that particular gem.

Except, however, on iPhone... and here's where I lay my beef with that version. The smaller screen means that I need to be far more careful with how steady I keep my finger. That would be OK in and of itself, I don't mind an especially difficult game that's still doable, but when you couple it with frequent and often ill-timed stutter and slowdown, it makes for the kind of experience that leads to a smashed up iPhone/wall/fist. Way too infuriating. Maybe some laxity in the form of extra lives would help. Certainly far less pushing of the device's graphical power - even though it's top down Cosmica's pause menu reveals that it's running in a 3D engine - would do wonders for the iPhone version.

So while I can't recommend it for iPhones as it is, I definitely recommend checking it out on iPad. If you liked Bit.Trip Beat but wished there were more mazes (and less beats) in it, Cosmica is the game for you.

The endless shmup with upgrades is nothing brand new, but Dragon Flight is more like the love-child of an endless runner and a shmup. Shooting is automatic, and the enemies attack down the screen in wall-like waves. Play becomes a matter of carving your way through these walls, with dodging as key to progress as well-aimed shots. So pushing through Dragon Flight is like pushing through Temple Run, with quick reflexes and stamina both required in equal measure. Meanwhile upgrades and power-ups help me get that little bit further, as well as consolidate that all too dangerous one-more-go factor.

If that one-more-go factor is the hook then the bait is simplistic and appealing play, and Dragon Flight scores high here too. Sliding my dragon across the screen is a cinch, even if the quick slides sometimes necessary do bring on friction burns. Power-ups are similarly easy to use, like sliding up to produce a wide light beam attack. Alongside simple play is a cute retro look with modern definition. The retro is in the colorful variety of scrolling landscapes, like the dunes of a desert or the greenery of a dense forest, and in the bright spectrum of beams that make up my shots. Both evoke memories of many a classic shmup. Meanwhile the mulitcolored waves of dragons, as well the chibi image of my pink-haired valkyrie gleaming with victory at the end of each run, is plain adorable.

On the flip side, Dragon Flight is lacking in variety. Endless waves of ever-sturdier dragons, however colorul, are always going to feel monotonous, especially with a dearth in power-ups. It's maybe greedy to ask it of a free game (albeit one with purchasable coins for upgrades), but more power-ups and the occasional boss fights would take Dragon Flight to the next level. It's maybe because the foundations of play and presentation are so solid that the lack of development is a little disappointing. On a side note, while I don't doubt its success as a marketing ploy it's still a bit low to constantly badger players to review your game with the bribe promise of 5000 free coins for doing so.

Sneakiness and monotony aside, Dragon Flight is certainly worth trying out. It may only keep interest for a few minutes or it might take over your day, but either way I'm confident most will enjoy their time with it. It's free, it has endless shooting, it has dragons, and it has a cute pink-haired valkyrie. What's not to love?