Canabalt started its life as a free online flash game which got picked up by several gaming websites. We initially came across this game via Offworld and found it highly entertaining, addictive and simply put, one of the best one button games available. We don't cover Flash games here, but when we found out that it was being ported over to the iPhone there was no hesitation of purchase on release day.

This title epitomises great game design - doing one, perhaps two main things but making the experience unforgettable. Furthermore, it's priced at a very reasonable £1.79, inviting those who loved the free online version to roll with it on mobile, supporting indie game development and hopefully paving the way for new innovation.

Good news is that it plays almost identically to the online version, except in a different aspect ratio and you're touching the screen instead of pressing a button. It cleverly uses variable jumping so a fast tap jumps a small height, whereas a long press is a full on leap from building to building. In other areas it's improved, you can listen to your own custom soundtrack whilst playing through, good news for those of you who aren't fans of electronic music.

We love the music in Canabalt however; it perfectly complements the pace and tension of the gameplay with intense sequences followed immediately by eerie dark ambience that lets the game's sound effects show their colours. And there's all sorts of neat touches here - the breaking of glass and the pieces that ricochet upon the building tops, the pat pat pat of your feet running, or plunk plunk plunk when you cross a tower crane, the reverberation of buildings crumbling beneath you or airplanes thundering past, shaking the camera of this panicked scene. No detail is left untouched graphically either - wonderful parallax scrolling backgrounds depict a scene of panic and chaos as giant creatures pillage, smoke pillars rise, bombs drop from the sky and more besides. It really does give you a sense of escapism and a real urgency that we just haven't gotten from other games - more so because every time you play the game the landscape changes and each level is randomly generated.

We recommend that you at least play the online version of Canabalt to get a taste of how good it is. The iPhone version is just as good (and as full featured with Twitter integration) so buy it today and support the developers of this wonderful game.

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