Angry Birds was, and continues to be, an absolutely massive hit on the iPhone. With its combination of impressive physics-based gameplay and bright, humorous graphics, it is no wonder that it remains ensconced at the top of the App Store's Paid Apps chart. Developers iCon have made a valiant attempt to replicate Angry Birds success with MadCap but have sadly fallen short of the mark.

MadCap's design is clearly influenced by Angry Birds, featuring simply animated levels populated by brightly colored, cell-shaded animals with expressive faces. The similarity means that the game starts off with a significant amount of goodwill, which only increases when users are exposed to MadCap's wide variety of googly-eyed animals.

Like Angry Birds, MadCap is a physics-based puzzle game utilizing animals. But instead of launching birds at pigs, gamers are given control of a weasel, capable of flinging tomato-clutching chipmunks at all manner of farm animals, including cows, pigs and sheep. The object is to splatter tomatoes over each animal, at which point gamers progress to the next stage.

MadCap's weasel hangs from a branch in each of the game's myriad levels, making like a pendulum and constantly swinging back and forth. To make the weasel release a chipmunk, simply tap the rodent when he reaches the desired part of his swing. Upon release, the chipmunk follows the path dictated by MadCap's physics engine, hopefully resulting in a splattered farm animal.

The game attempts to keep things interesting with the introduction of a number of additional elements, including destructible obstacles, moving platforms, magnets and even chipmunk-devouring pumpkins. These small touches are important, as they ensure that MadCap's gameplay stays fresh throughout its many levels.

MadCap's physics engine is a an impressive one, with tomato-clutching chipmunks ricocheting wildly across the screen. Unfortunately, sending the chipmunks in the desired direction is much easier in theory than in practice, due to two separate design issues. First is the fact that the touch-sensitive portion of the screen is exceptionally small, making it difficult to command the weasel to release his payload at a specific time. Ineffective taps lead to more frantic tapping, which of course only means that you must wait for the weasel to swing back around to try again.

While there is nothing wrong with a physics-based game demanding precision from its users, MadCap becomes even more frustrating due to the weasel's ridiculously fast swinging. Physics games like Angry Birds encourage players to think through their shots, lining them up perfectly. But the weasel in MadCap moves so fast that it is far too easy to miss your opportunity, or more likely, touch a little too early or too late. And with a physics engine as detailed as MadCap's that can turn what should be a game of precision into one of simple trial and error.

MadCap does a commendable job trying to match Angry Birds, especially with its fun, funny graphics and the wacky gameplay elements utilized over its 50+ levels. But while the additional gameplay elements add excitement to the levels, they compound the control problems presented in both the game's touch controls and the speed of the swinging weasel.

At only $0.99, MadCap could still be a good buy for Angry Birds addicts hungry for a new fix, but expect to be frustrated on a number of occasions by shots that should work, but just refuse to for some reason or another. If you are really aching to try MadCap, we recommend downloading the free version first, which gives users access to twelve levels before they have to put down a single cent.

Final Score: C-