Cut The Rope was a smart and addictive iOS game, which has since been built upon in sequels and moved onto different platforms but – much like Angry Birds – always kept the core direction the same. While the 3DS version doesn’t do much to differentiate itself from, or even improve upon, the previous titles, it’s still a fun little distraction as it always was.

There are plenty of levels to play through, which means lots of candy for Om Nom to eat, as well as tonnes of fun to be found as you go back to it when you’re bored here and there. In fact it’s perfect for that, and genuinely a pleasure to play if you’re stuck for something to do and have your 3DS handy.

Essentially, the aim of Cut The Rope is to, well, cut ropes in order to swing or otherwise move candy into the mouth of a little green creature: Om Nom. That might seem simple, but new mechanics and features are introduced at opportune moments in order to keep the game fresh and exciting. Before you’ll know it, you’ll be guiding the candy into bubbles, pushing it with blowers, cutting multiple ropes and even moving it through portals, as well as plenty more things that we’ll let you discover for yourselves.

Most of these are quietly brilliant in their execution, changing up the gameplay just enough so that you’re still familiar with the core concept and the new mechanics won’t seem jarring. It’s a great example of a well designed game, which can be added to – or taken away from – at ease, as shown with the constant slew of updates coming to the iPhone version. And, perhaps most importantly: it’s always fun, and always charming.

While there aren’t many things that set Cut The Rope on 3DS apart from the mobile iterations of the game, there is a 3D Om Nom on the top screen, who you can watch as he joyfully eats the candy after you guide it into his mouth, as well as a redesigned HUD which removes some of the clutter from the game screen.

It’s hard to ignore just how limited the 3DS version is due to the hardware of the system, unlike other games which may see improvements on the more powerful platform. There’s no multitouch, for example, and the resistive touchscreen isn’t as responsive as the capacitive screen found on most mobile devices. This, combined with the smaller and lower resolution screen just means that the game isn’t at its best on here, even if a charming little Om Nom does sit on the top screen.

Despite these drawbacks, it remains as charming as ever, with lovely sound design and a glorious charm found in the presentation which will have you smiling as you play. The only other oddity is the pricing: while it’s not quite as steep as a boxed edition of Angry Birds on 3DS compared to the iOS price, £4.49 still seems far too expensive for essentially a lesser version of the game, when compared to the mobile asking price of 69p.

So, Cut The Rope on 3DS is far from the best version, but there’s nothing overly bad about it. If you don’t have a mobile device, then there’s plenty of content to play here to justify a purchase for 3DS owners. If you do have the former though, then just stick with that. However, it’s still the same, fun game at its core, and there’s no way to fault that.

Score: 7/10