OVERALL RATING		3.5
Presentation		3.5
Control		4.0
Gameplay		3.5
Fun factor		4.0
User Rating		1.5

Rockin’ Stone is the long-awaited follow-up to the award winning Skipping Stone mobile game from a few years back.  Like many sequels, some things have changed and some things have stayed the same but generally speaking, it’s worthwhile for someone who has yet to try the original.

While the game still focuses on the mechanic of flinging a stone and bouncing it across the water for as long as possible, the new elements have added a little more life to the title by way of game play.  In Story mode, Skip the stone is on a quest to save his girl Pebbie from a programmer who has captured her with intents to use her in a video game.  This quest sees Skip go through a number of levels with different characters to meet along the way.  There are also Skip-a-thon and The Longest Skip modes for how many bounces you can string together or how far in total distance you can go.

As in the first title, using one-thumb controls, a power meter is used to calculate the strength of the throw across the stretch of water and as the stone hits the surface, a button must be pressed with precise timing so that Skip continues to bounce along. If the button is pressed too soon or too late, Skip loses momentum and sinks.

Some of the differences now however include changing perspectives (horizontal to vertical) as well as new power-ups and power-downs to access along the way.  On top of that, challenge is increased at certain times where you are required to use the entire keypad for input.  In these instances, some characters challenge you by asking you to press a specific button, or even solving a math problem then pressing the button with the correct answer.  (A separate Math mode using this mechanic can be unlocked.)

The game continues to have very colorful and zany backdrops but has also added quite a bit of unusual characters to boot.  Music and sounds have been improved over the first title, and another noticed improvement, or addition really, is that different characters are playable this time around, not just Skip.  (Not that this matters since they all seem to perform the same, but it’s nice to have different stones to choose from.)

Rockin’ Stone isn’t as much of a surprise as the first title was simply because, well, it’s not the first.  The new additions do add more to the game, as you would expect, but for all of this, it still remains basically the same game.  Of course, if you have yet to try either of them, this is a good chance to get your hands on a very simple, yet highly addictive game.