Most games in the iTunes App Store fall into one of several popular categories, including ports of older titles and tower defense games. But while many developers prefer to stick to the same old genres, the makers of Wispin have succeeded in developing a whole new gameplay mechanic.

Players take control of a cute, cartoony character named Wispin and tasked with destroying blobs known as Bloopers, which come in red, blue and green varieties. To eliminate a Blooper, Wispin must first change into the appropriate color and then run into the enemy. Changing colors is easy with the help of a simple color wheel sitting at the bottom of the screen.

While the color wheel is well-sized and responsive, Wispin's other controls could use some work. Players are given the option of moving their character with either tilt-controls or an onscreen joystick. While the joystick tends to be more responsive than the tilt controls, neither one feels quite precise enough.

This problem is exacerbated as you score speed power-ups. While they are meant to help you rack up combos more easily, they actually render the game more difficult as you whiz by your intended targets. Combined with the small size of both Wispin and the Bloopers, the game's controls can become a source of considerable frustration.

Luckily, Grumpyface Studios, the developers of Wispin, have already released one update which greatly improved the games controls, and they seem committed to further perfecting them. Even with the existing control issues, however, Wispin is still a fun, colorful gaming experience to play on the go.

As users progress through the game, Bloopers come faster, grow larger, and even exhibit some special abilities. Luckily, Wispin can get power-ups of his own, meant to level the playing field. Unfortunately, neither the enemy nor player upgrades do much to change Wispin's core gameplay. This leads into what is the game's biggest problem.

Simply put, Wispin is too repetitive. If you still defeat enemies in the same way, changing how they look is not enough variation to keep gamers coming back. Additionally, the power-ups available to players, including bombs and arrows, are generally less effective than just killing Bloopers like normal. Further contributing to this problem is the fact that all of the gameplay takes place on the same screen, so there isn't even the illusion of forward motion or progression.

For a game that is meant to be played in endless waves, variety should be a key component, but Wispin just doesn't deliver on that front. While the game's color-coding does offer a new and unique gameplay element, it won't be exciting enough to hold most gamers' interest for very long, as there are only so many times that a person feels compelled to do the same thing over and over again. Hopefully, Grumpyface Studios will continue to tweak their product and release updates with additional gameplay elements.

Wispin is still a fun game, however, and at $0.99 it could be worth a try if you're looking for something new. The game's bright graphics, vibration response and refreshing color-based mechanics go a long way to mitigating Wispin's repetitive gameplay, but you're far more patient than us if it's enough to keep you interested for more than a few minutes at a time.

Final Score: C+