I hate to admit it sometimes, but I love old games. There's nothing like dusting off your NES and popping in the Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt dual cartridge, stomping on a few Goombas and make sure that darn dog has nothing to laugh about. Somehow, I felt the same nostalgic quality about NotGreg's Retro Div Div. a game that feels like equal parts Asteroids, Galaga, and Space Invaders, maybe with a dash of E.T. and the wave-based arcade gameplay of Smash TV.

And just like those old hits, the game has a pretty simple plot. You play as Div Div and your children have been taken by Baddie, who's threatening to eat them. But is it any good? I'll let you know if you keep reading past the break.

The Good

Like I said, Retro Div Div reminds me a lot of the classic games I used to play on my family's computers or home consoles, so you know NotGreg has done something right with the gameplay. Indeed they have, as the game is frenetic fun as you move the phone side to side to control Div Div, tap on him to jump and tap anywhere else to fire upwards towards the enemy invasion (who might look just a little familiar). Those enemies encroach in waves and some of them do a kamikaze dive, so you'll need to be extremely aware of what's going on -- which gets a lot harder when dozens of Baddies' bad guys are flying around the screen at once. Of course you get some assistance as you kill the enemies, who drop power-ups and release your precious babies over time.

In the beginning, I was turned off by how chaotic the game was. As I got used to the controls, however, the gameplay felt much more fluid and natural. It's one of those games that will drive you nuts by how difficult it is, but keeps reeling you back in for "just one more round" until you look up and realize you've already been playing it for two hours.

The Not-So-Good

Nothing can be perfect in a game, no matter how well it gets the presentation and gameplay down. One of the biggest challenges of any mobile game nowadays is the controls, and there's a steep learning curve with Retro Div Div's layout. Like I said, in the beginning the game is frustrating because the controls are tough to get used to and it still demands you take out your enemies. One thing I'd recommend to NotGreg is to add a separate Jump onscreen button instead of making the player tap on Div Div to jump. That alone would make a big difference in my opinion, though it would rob some of the challenge of the game. Oh, and that's another thing too: this game is not easy. I never dared to play Hard mode, as Easy mode was giving my fingers enough of a workout.

Despite some of its problems with the controls and the difficulty, I can still honestly say that Retro Div Div is one of my favorites in the Marketplace right now. The presentation is well done and the gameplay tips its hat to more than just a few classic arcade games. Overall we'd highly recommend you play it, so long as you can tolerate the learning curve in the beginning. Download Retro Div Div from the Marketplace now for free by clicking on the tile/link or by scanning the QR code below.

Retro Div Div by NotGreg Version: 1.2 Price: Free Trial: N/A Marketplace Link