GAMING
Commonwealth. You might need time
to succeed, though – your enemies
might whiff of cannon fodder, but
they’re not all blithering idiots who’ll
merrily lurk in your sights until you
blow them to space dust.SPORTS AND RACING GAMES
36.Astro Golf
Price: £1.99
Something games often forget is
they can be experiences rather than
representations. We often see this
in sports, notably on traditional
consoles that march relentlessly into
the uncanny valley, hoping someday
to provide an interactive facsimile of
what you see on the telly. Fortunately,
mobile titles tend to prioritise fun
over realism – and that’s very evident
in Astro Golf.Devoid of club bags, endless
greens, and polite ripples of applause,
Astro Golf finds you belting a ball
about the heavens. The goal remains
to get the ball in the hole, but the
setup alters the way you go about
things. Gravity – rather than sand or
water traps – is your biggest obstacle.
Smack a ball towards a planetary body
and it’ll influence your shot. Larger
planets suck your ball in at speed.
But slowly you’ll master the way
Astro Golf works, pulling off slingshot
manoeuvres that’d have even the
hardiest NASA scientist doff their cap
in your general direction.
Echoing Desert Golfing’s elegance
and simplicity, Astro Golf also aims for
zero stress, giving you endless shots
to make your target. However, if you
fancy more of a challenge, you can
try your luck at Hard Mode’s
hole-in-one demands. Even
there, Astro Golf wants to
ease the strain, and provides
a ‘ghost’ of your previous
attempt that you can use to
refine your next effort.37.Drift’n’Drive
Price: £2.99
Speaking of retro,
Drift’n’Drive doesn’t look
so much like it crawled out
36.