Perhaps the best reason to roll out a games console with a different approach to player input is the kinds of innovative input mechanisms that can be born from it. Sway is one of these games. It has been met with some mixed reviews - some love it, some hate it - but for us, it definitely ranks up there with the best in terms of the overall package.

That's not to say that it's easy to get to grips with. We highly recommend watching the explanation video before playing, but it basically goes like this - The right half (right thumb) of the screen controls your green hand, and the left (left thumb) controls your red hand. Holding either side makes your character grab onto the platform - and then you can swing from there, with small movements or even by doing a long wind up that can propel your character a long distance. You can also hold down with both thumbs if you need to stay still for a while.

It starts off simple, with an easy tutorial level - showing you the ropes. You'll be collecting stars within a certain time limit - netting a fair few in a short time will earn a gold medal, and if you aren't as obsessive, you'll pass with a bronze. If you are rubbish, you will still unlock the next level as long as you reach the exit (and earn a lollypop for your trouble). There's no lives, death leads to a jump to the beginning of the level (or a checkpoint on longer levels).

Difficulty comes with ever smaller, spread out platforms, moving obstacles, walls, spikes and ever demanding requirements. It's fortunate that the game takes a relaxed approach to challenge then, so casual players will still get a lot from the different players that you can unlock. Each has their own ability - the Ninja is small and fast, the monkey has long arms but is a little slow, and so on. There's 10 characters in all.

The game looks phenomenal - a proper fit, finish and attention to detail has been paid throughout - it's pop art style presentation and lush textures really do look great on the screen. The game has only one music track though, which can get tiresome - we would have preferred more variety.

Glitches happen sometimes - you can get stuck on top of a wall, and we found out (to our annoyance) that flinging Lizzie or our Ninja friend (whom we much preferred) off the top of the screen lead to instant death. Fortunately if any glitches happen, there's a 'kill me' button in the pause menu, which restarts you from the last checkpoint. Also, the game doesn't save state, which may be a deal breaker for some. It was frustrating to find this out after 4 minutes of playing a level.

Otherwise, there's a lot to love here. The control scheme works really well - as long as you have some practice and the right character for your style. It's a simple, addictive pseudo platformer that is a blast to play - and for £2.99 it's a great value.

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More by this developer

Labyrinth 2, A

Review by Tom Grimes, December 11, 2009

Touchgrind, C

Review by Ben Briggs, February 10, 2009

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