Emberwind HD is a side-scrolling game for the most part, with some vertical elements that keep things interesting. Controls are handled with on-screen buttons and a left-hand joystick that you can use to walk or run. The right-hand controls cover jumping and attacking. It's not that the placement of controls is bad, or that they don't work as expected, but the idea of using the touch-button joystick to simulate a double-tap of a physical joystick is a flop. Instead of trying to actually "push" the joystick, you quickly figure out that you just need to double-tap the area to the left or right edge of the joystick. It's a hack that requires more precision than it should, considering how often this skill must be used. Enemies tend to come at you too fast to be easily swatted with your weapon, and seem overly armored for their small size. Once you discover more powerful weapons, things even out quite a bit. Save points help to alleviate the frustration somewhat, but instead of autosaving, the game makes you trigger each save. Doing this in the midst of battle is rarely fun.
The fun factor is only average for Emberwind HD, after you subtract the shoddy mechanics from all the other good points. Perhaps with some work in future releases, the platforming fun of Emberwind HD will trump its faults, but the current version just doesn't make the cut. If you're a Platformer junkie and just need your fix on iPad, it might be worth grabbing a copy, but it's a tough sell otherwise.
