Emberwind HD is sure wrapped in a great looking package. Its animation style reminds us of some of the better Platfomers on the PSP or DS, which combined with the increased screen real estate makes for a really nice presentation. Think colorful, sprite-based characters set against rich, detailed backgrounds. The use of light is especially nice; there are lots of great special effects during attacks and exploration throughout each level. The varied design between levels is also refreshing, and keeps things interesting as you play through the game. Good thought obviously went into the sound design, as well. Engaging music and distinctive sound effects round out what looks and sounds like platforming Nirvana. There's not much to get in the way of the action, other than some basic indicators to represent your health and a few other attributes, including your mission status.

The premise of Emberwind HD is that you're a lone warrior pitted against an invading horde of goblins. You've got some very basic weapons at your disposal at first, but in time, you'll find some helpers and more powerful weapons to aid you in your quest to save the land from this goblin onslaught. All the right components are here in terms of platforming action. You collect items, power up your attacks, defeat a variety of enemies, and tackle lots of tricky jumps that require split-second timing. You even have a bit of flying to do, thanks to your trusty owl mount. Item collection ranges from simple points to power-ups that grant special attacks, or secrets. Special attacks include the power to put enemies to sleep, flaming shots, and bubbles that send enemies skyward. If you're getting the picture of a cutesy game, you're not wrong, but Emberwind HD features enough challenge to please any fan of the genre.

There are clear primary objectives in every level that end up being fairly simple to complete, compared to searching out every hidden item and power-up. You'll begin to see a pattern: If you're not signed up for a heavy challenge, just plow through and complete the basic mission. If you're a Platformer pro, go ahead and explore and play for score. There isn't any penalty from a time standpoint, and the levels are designed with plenty of goodies tucked away for you to find. The controls are unforgiving and poorly designed in some ways, making things harder than they should be, across the board. For all its strong points, Emberwind HD fails in the mechanics' department and frustration tends to constantly bubble to the surface. It makes otherwise weak enemies feel overpowered, and makes the navigation in certain levels feel well nigh impossible.

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.