The controls themselves are quite nice, simple and intuitive, and most things you need to do (run, jump and shoot, that is!) are controlled by only a few buttons. This results in an extremely palatable, almost non-existent learning curve for the game. Even so, there is a short training level for those of us who tend to immediately pee their pants unless one is provided. [I'd like to officially state that no one on the GameLemon team fits into this category. Well, almost no one. - ed.]

Hurt me!

   As every REM fan is well aware, everybody hurts. Everybody, that is, except Ratchet. The tiny learning curve notwithstanding, dispatching enemies in this game starts out being deceptively easy, then continues to be deceptively easy, and finishes off being deceptively easy. Factor out the common denominator of 'deceptively', and solve for easy. Go on, it's easy. The answer is 'easy'. Yes, you guessed it. This game is easy. Although enemies come in some variety, they are all extremely predictable, and moreover, all have a rare epileptic mutation which causes them to go into shock once you shoot them. The shock ends easily enough, once you stop shooting them. At which point they are, of course, dead. Poor dumb little robots.

I think I need a bigger gun... Or wait, I don't really give a rat's ass...

   The rest of the gameplay aspects don't present much of a challenge either. You can't fall very hard, the timed swinging is elementary, you rarely have to face multiple enemies, and they never work against you together. Perhaps the best testament to how easy it all really is, is the fact that I was able to pass the entire game with nothing but the Ratchet's basic gun weapon! The final boss was the only enemy tough enough to make me go spend all those unused credits in the weapons shop, after which I dispatched him without much difficulty as well.

Carelessly yours

   Don't get me wrong, Ratchet and Clank: Going Mobile isn't a bad game. Indeed, it has a number of clear strengths that other cell phone games would even do well to borrow: great controls, attractive graphics, flexible level selection options, and a clear, intelligible story with a sense of humor. But all those good qualities pale in the face of the fact that the game is simply not very challenging. It can be fun from an explorative perspective for a little while, but once you've beaten it, there is very little reason to come back, even for casual play. The game tries to address this issue by enticing you to collect titanium bolts that are hidden throughout the levels, in order to unlock the ultimate weapon. But given that you can beat the game with the basic gun, it's hard to see a reason why you should even bother. Overall, the game is a fairly quick, mellow, and forgettable experience. [Too gentle a verdict, if you ask me! This game should have been called Wretched and Clanked!!! Har har har! ... All right, all right, so I had some bad milk with my cereal this morning... - ed.]

       ... Vaga