It's hard to accuse Red Ball 3 by Chillingo and RedBallStudio of following the pack when it comes to its physics-puzzle platforming gameplay. The way it feels to control your ball and even the variety of the levels themselves is almost entirely unique, which is a rare treat when you consider how many competitors are out there already.

Your first major hurdle to overcome (and one that will probably take the longest to deal with) is coming to terms with the way in which your Red Ball feels to manipulate. Much like a traditional platformer you can move left and right along with a basic jump, however movement is subject to overcoming inertia, which means starting and stopping needs to be considered ahead of time. While it's not particularly new for a platformer, it does present some problems as your spherical character can use this momentum to 'climb' surfaces (or more specifically, roll off them).

Although earlier levels feel far more traditional in their approach of throwing the usual platforming tropes at the player (falling/rotating surfaces, pushing blocks, elevators/springs), later levels get far more creative as you find yourself stacking boxes with a crane, playing 'Doodle Jump' and even flying a helicopter. Sadly the experience is over far too soon as there's only 20 levels in total, however unlockables give players an incentive to replay the levels, while 'stars' provide an interesting additional level of difficulty for those willing to hunt them down.

For such a limited concept, Red Ball 3 manages to be creative in a way that's surprising and frustrating all at the same time. Worth checking out if you're itching for a platformer with a bit more bite.