Sony PlayStation £34.99
It certainly hasn't been one of those summers to get the beachball out and head for the sea. Your beachball is probably still lying deflated up in the attic since sometime in the last decade. Don't fret however, help is at hand.
Not in the guise of glorious sunshine, blue skies or sandy beaches, but a multi-coloured ball. However, it's no Sunday afternoon kickabout. Kula World, despite its innocent looks, is a devilishly hard puzzle game.
You control the seaside inflatable through floating 3D mazes that are initially benign, but become almost fatal as the game wears on.
This is a complicated game, but the learning curve is so generous that before you know it you'll be pulling off manoeuvres that you thought previously impossible.
The controls are accurate and true. So, if you end up falling off the game area you'll have no one to blame only yourself.
Each level, however, sounds simple enough to complete. Find a key (or keys), then find the exit. But there are all manner of obstacles in your path, apart from the mazes themselves. These are complex structures and such are the viewing angles that it will take some time to become acclimatised.
When you do it's only the beginning. There are spikes, hot squares, jumps, timers, tablets (not of the paracetamol variety) etc placed strategically around each puzzle and a meeting with any of these could result in a loss of air. No air, no ball, no fun. Simple.
The idea of course with this game is to amass as many points as possible, and although there is a two-player mode included, the game is not quite suited to this format.
It's a long time since such an innovative puzzle game hit the PlayStation and Kula World certainly won't disappoint. It is very frustrating at times, but if it wasn't it wouldn't be puzzling. Would it?
Graphics: 82%
Sound: 85%
Gameplay: 90%