Oh to slip the surly bonds of Earth and take to the skies above. Flying always holds a fascination for man due to the freedom and wonderment such ability bestows upon us. Crash Birds Islands lets us live out this dream vicariously through three selectable birds. Sadly aside from the flying mechanics, there's not much more at play here. You'll see what we mean.

You launch your bird at the start of each stage through dragging back a giant slingshot and letting go. Once airborne, you flap and soar through tilting the iPhone. The controls respond well and you are capable of some tight turns and all manner of ups and downs. The thing is that the game doesn't allow you a broad canvas in which to explore or just take your time to play around in. Each level is a dash towards the windmill, completing some short and banal task along the way, and that's if you can make it through the deadly blades right at the end. You might be collecting coins, sprinting through checkpoints, or even knocking over port-a-loos, but this is all done on floating islands that look the same from stage to stage. Collecting stars at the end of a level doesn't even carry much weight or feeling of satisfaction along with it. It's just all rather lifeless.

Coins are the in game currency and are needed to unlock new stage packs as well as to equip power-ups going into levels, such as the jet pack or a helmet. Stages such as the checkpoint sprint or the crate busting challenge require the jet pack, forcing the player to spend coins. This habit of forcing the player to use the currency is always a design decision that rubs us the wrong way as reviewers, and it's no different here. The whole game kind of has the same aura around it, like instead of making the most of the possibilities inherit with a fun concept and good flight controls, they decided to create a bunch of superfluous activities doted out in bite sized levels that stifle the core experience. Really it comes across as a wasted opportunity and overall makes the game hard to recommend.