Take Mario's platforming, Lemmings' life-saving gameplay, add a hint of urgency and colorfully pixelated 3D graphics, and you're just scratching the surface of Kami Retro, the must-play puzzle platformer for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
There are several different ways I could describe Kami Retro. You know those running games, where you have to jump and duck to avoid obstacles, while your character endlessly runs in one direction? It's sort of like that, only you can change directions and jump from platform to platform.
But that comparison only holds up until the props come in.
The main goal is to get between one and four )preferably four) little guys from the opening they come out of to the opening they're going into. This generally involves swiping your finger to make them jump at the right time, or drawing a line across them, helping them change directions.
After the first few levels get you up to speed, Gamevil's title starts throwing you mad props, like trampolines that fill the gaps, or fans that propel your little men across great distances. It's up to you to place them in the right places to ensure your guys' safety.
So there's a little element of games like The Incredible Machine mixed in as well. Lemmings, Mario, the Incredible Machine, and the sort of Nintendo DS games developers used to put out, before they got complacent, or moved to the iPhone. That's a winning recipe.
Currently on same for $.99 on the iTunes App Store and weighing in at a measly 17.2 megs, Kami Retro is a game that every iPhone or iPod Touch user should find the room for.
Kami Retro [iTunes]