If there's one thing that's almost universally considered annoying in single-player games, it's the 'escort' scenario. You know, it's that section of the game where you have to protect someone from hordes of enemies while managing to get in your way despite said dangers. TEDD by Sweet Studio has paired up side-scrolling beat'em-ups with the need to constantly protect someone, which makes the game a bitter-sweet experience.

One of TEDD's major departures from regular beat'em-ups on the App Store is its use of touch to move controls. It allows you to specify a target to move towards and while this can be helpful for accurately brawling with targets, selecting a specific target or quickly changing directions can be a pain to execute. This would be far more tolerable if the jump and attack buttons could be executed with one hand, but these buttons are located in opposite corners to add to the control's complexity.

The graphics are definitely above par, using great arcade quality character designs. The animations are a bit stiff and the special effects don't seem to have as much flair as you'd expect given the quality of the artwork. The music is great, but just like the special effects the sound effects leave a lot to be desired.

The addition of needing to constantly protect someone adds a lot more tension to the fights and thankfully she's not entirely defenseless, giving you plenty of time to get things in control. TEDD is a great beat'em-up for the iPhone, but the loose controls are a big let down.