To really understand StarDrone is to see it in action rather than read about it on paper, because while it combines things we've all seen before (a little bit of pinball, a little bit of Breakout and a little bit of Spider-Man-style web-slinging physics), describing exactly how it comes together doesn't do justice to the unwieldy but very satisfying way these elements collide.
StarDrone
For: PS3 (via Playstation Network)
From: TastyPlay/Beatshapers
Rating: Everyone (mild fantasy violence)
Price: $US10
Though other objectives factor in, the general goal in StarDrone is to manage those physics in a way that gets your ship around each of the 53 levels and clears the area of collectable stars (or, later on, enemies) in as little time as possible.
But you don't control the ship directly - enter slinging physics - and the levels are loaded with enough obstacles (some fatal, some not) to make getting around, much less quickly, easier said than done.
For the impatient, StarDrone may even be too unwieldy to truly enjoy.
But for the player who loves nothing more than to replay levels in hopes of shaving a second off that finishing time and shoot for each level's gold medal score, this is pretty much bliss.
The truly bold will appreciate the clever ability to adjust StarDrone's speed on a 10-point scale, which makes ever faster times possible for those steady enough to handle the spike in recklessness.
Just keep a DualShock handy if you want to do your best: StarDrone's lauded Playstation Move support delivers as advertised, but it supports traditional controllers equally well, and the added precision they afford will come in handy come high-score pursuit time.
