POSTED 25/11/12


SUNFLOWERS

The Game Atelier
Vita/PSN

When it comes to sciencematific stuff, we’re not too flash. Still, even we know that sun hitting clouds doesn’t cause rainfall. So, the basic premise of SunFlowers is crap – but mercifully the game isn’t.

First up, you’ll need to sit and rotate your Vita. Or stand if you prefer. We’ve done much less awkward things, but you’ll hopefully reach some sort of vaguely coordinated truce with the OLEDified beastie. Next, go to ‘options’ and change the firing controls, for as it comes you use touch for moving, shooting AND dealing with annoyances. It’s broken, and you’ll have more unintentional shots going down than at a drink spiker’s ball. Of course, changing firing to the only alternative – shoulder buttons - opens up a whole new world of required contortionism...

Hmm, we jumped ahead a bit. Anyway, this is an alarmingly cheerful affair which looks remarkably ‘casual’, and in many ways it is. You control the sun (insert despotic ”BWAHAHA!” here – oh wait, we already have), sliding it left and right across the screen’s top hurling sunbeams earthwards. If they hit happy clouds, they form rain, which duly falls to ground and grows seeds into glorious flora – 330 different types in two worlds, no less. That’d keep Mum busy. Let a sunbeam hit anything plantastic though and it’ll sizzle then shrivel up, unless given some H20 lovin’.

Basically, it’s an upside down Space Invaders meets Frogger meets Dig Dug kinda thing, but with a lick of originality on top. As you improve, grumpy clouds cause havoc, as do stupid Vita-workout contrivances such as a huffed-up screen that needs wiping with your finger, ice blocks, leaf attacks and needing to point the thing at a light source. Did we mention these are stupid?

For $5 SunFlowers is fiendishly, cruelly and time-suckingly addictive, despite its repetitivitinessousity. All that we’re saying, this game is worth playing, over and over again...

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