Some of the most popular games on mobile devices are those quick, pick up and play games that you can play for a couple of minutes and end up still playing 3 hours later!

The latest to attempt to meet those requirements is Subway Surfers, a free universal game for your iPhone, iPod touch and iPad from Kiloo.

Subway Surfers task you to travel as far as you can along the tracks to prevent you from being caught by security who have caught you tagging one of the trains.

As you would expect there are multiple challenges for you to overcome and avoid as you aim to get as high a score as possible. Your biggest challenge is to avoid the trains that are on he track, both stationary and moving.

There are three tracks for you to navigate, swiping left and right will move you between the tracks to avoid the trains but you can also run on top of the trains should you find a ramp to get you up there or the sneaker power ups that will allow you to leap double height.

The game is all about timing as the trains leave little room for you to run or jump between them, however there is more to overcome including barriers that you can slide beneath or over and tunnels. If you do hit any of the obstacles you may get a second chance if you don’t hit it too hard, do it twice in short succession however and it will be game over.

The game does give you a helping hand to boost your high scores in the form of a variety of power-ups that include not only the previously mentioned Super Sneakers but also a Hoverboard, Headstarts, Coin Magnets and even a Jetpack! All of these can be purchased with the coins you pick up in the game but can also be brought via in-app purchase. These in-app purchases are pitched pretty well so unless you want to take massive shortcuts to big scores there’s no need to use them.

Coins can also be earned by liking the game on Facebook or tweeting about it on Twitter, however these are one off options unlike the ability to watch sponsored videos and earn 50 coins each time, although on occasion there are no videos to watch.

There are also 4 characters to play as, unlocking these is done by collecting special items that also appear in game, however after playing Subway Surfers for multiple hours I’ve only come across one of these special tokens once.

As if this wasn’t enough for you there are daily challenges and missions to complete while you play, these come in the form of traveling X distance, dodging X barriers and collecting tokens, if the game wasn’t addictive enough already these additional tasks certainly do.

Having taking multiple paragraphs without mentioning how the game looks you would think maybe that they aren’t all that special, in fact they look pretty good. Bold, solid and colorful graphics flow by fast both on the iPhone and iPads retina screens and will appeal to all players.

You can compare your scores with your friends via Facebook and GameCenter integration and although I did find that I they wouldn’t always connect as quickly as I would have hoped after playing a few games it would sync up and show me the leaderboards.

Subway Surfers {Free} takes the best of Temple Run and throws in the best of Jetpack Joyride and with the ability to challenge your friends via both Facebook and GameCenter integration this is a game that you will be playing for a long time to come.

Welcome to your new addiction!

Rating:

What we like

• Easy pick up and play controls
• Bright, colorful graphics
• Built-in Missions and Leaderboards

What to know

• Minor connectivity issues with GameCenter integration

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