Monster Takedown is a little confusing. The game starts with you picking from a list of humorous giant monsters. The monster of your choice in then plonked down in the middle of a hysterical metropolis and as the player you need to do all you can to protect the army from taking it down. The thing is you're protecting the monster, not trying to destroy it, and on top of that, it isn't really doing anything. It's just sitting there looking bewildered. Hey, those smoking skyscrapers might have caught fire themselves. There's no reason to blame the giant mutant chilling in the center of town.

The game plays a little like a more direct version of Missile Command. There's still the possibility of causing chain reactions when tapping to take out a chopper or missile, but the game is more on managing your defense from each side of the monster, which can become increasingly difficult as choppers fly low and are obscured by the city skyline. Actually the small scale of all incoming attacks is an issue, but luckily there are sound effects to clue you in on what's heading your way. If those weren't there, the nuke would be more frightening and frustrating than it already is.

The nuke the descends from above is a one hit kill, and swiping it away to continue playing seems as based in luck and futility as avoiding the Yeti in Skifree. The whistling drop of it gives you only a few precious seconds to use your finger to swipe it aside, and success is indeed wildly varied. This is indicative of the entire games' difficulty which seems to jump up in spikes rather then on a gentle curve. The first minute or so seems almost cruisey before the army starts throwing their entire arsenal at you (which happens a little after the first nuke, if you're lucky enough to survive it).

With a little tweaking Monster Takedown could be quite a fun arcade title. If the difficulty was smoother, the nuke was easier to handle, and the monsters had more personality (or perhaps a special attack or something to distinguish them), we'd have no problem recommending this if you're looking for a time waster. In its current state though, well that's a decision you'll have to make for yourself.