For all that Worms is such a massive hit, it's not a game that's seen all that many clones. There have been plenty of artillery games in the past, but Worms offered style as well as the dynamic bombing and shelling gameplay. DChoc's latest offering, Super Water Bomber, is just such a clone, however, and understands its inspiration so profoundly it even captures much of the old Team 17 game's unique approach to styling.
Because Super Water Bomber has every bit as much comic flavour as Worms, it's very much its own game and takes the opportunity to fine tune the artillery mechanics to the mobile platform. But beyond all its platform-specific technicalities, it's the dry wit of its premise that really brings the game to life.
You are the Splash Bandit - a heroic figure of juvenile vengeance and front man at the water balloon-based Discount Retaliatory Measures service. You and your team work to bring moist justice to the downtrodden of the playgrounds and parks, dispensing bulbous, wobbly, water-filled righteousness at the bullies of the neighbourhood.
Not only does this superb comic premise set the tone perfectly, but the steady development through the 128 levels actually works to establish a tangible quest between good and naughtiness. To begin with, the bullies in the park have no idea they're about to become the hunted, thwarted by water balloons from afar. But as the levels progress, your enemy begins to realise its turf is under attack, and so musters its forces against the shadowy Splash Bandit.
You can move freely about the levels until you're spotted by an enemy, at which point each step reduces the movement you're allowed to make before launching a balloon. You use a crosshair to set the trajectory of your weapon, before holding the action button to set the power gauge and releasing. Head shots sap more of your enemy's energy, while landing a balloon at their feet tends to alert them to their peril so they move in to retaliate.
The levels quickly begin to diversify, with difficult to navigate undulations in the environment, balloon-blocking obstacles or enemies squirreled away in difficult-to-wet locations. Once they begin setting attack dogs on you, or throwing exploding cans of pop in reprisal, it becomes a thrilling, turn-based strategic challenge to get in position, hoy a bomb, and then split without getting a good soaking yourself.
Along the warpath you'll pick up variations on the balloon-based armaments, such as exploding TNT balloons, scatter water bombs (which explode into a shower of smaller damp squibs in the air above your target), super bombs, timed bombs (which only detonate after a counter reaches zero) and a host of other devices to help you give the bullies a good dousing. This extra dimension really adds to Super Water Bomber's repertoire, requiring you to plan carefully so you'll still have the right weapons in your pocket to complete the increasingly moistening missions.
Alongside the many single player levels there's a multiplayer option for up to eight pass-to-play opponents. This mode pretty much boils down to a last man standing system, but the large levels - still dotted with CPU controlled enemies - make for an equally tactical bout of water bomb warfare, and is the runny icing on an ultra-moist cake.
Truth be told, I'd all but forgotten just how excellent Worms was, but if I had a choice between playing Worms or Super Water Bomber on the mobile right now, it'd have to be DChoc's wet and wonderful watery warfare.
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