When we got out first iPhone three years ago, one of the first games we played was the rather magnificent Alto’s Adventure.

It’s still one of the best iPhone games around, but it’s been royally trumped but its glorious sequel as, surely, the very best smartphone game money can buy.

This thing is a beautiful and relaxing tour de force.

Alto’s Odyssey

The first one is an endless snowboarded (basically, this means you snowboard to the right and the game never ends, until you fall over.

It’s  procedurally generated environment so you’re always coming across fun new things.

Alto’s Odyssey is a big step up on the first one, placing you as Alto into a sandy world where there’s always a stunning sunset just around the corner.

This one is for your earphones, for sure. If you’re a bit stressed or whatnot, jam them in there and just enjoy the whole experience.

You can play to beat the little missions you get at the start of each new odyssey, or you can just kick back and enjoy the experience. That’s the beauty of it, the player makes of the experience what they want.

The game begins in a way that’s similar to the first title, but quickly morphs into a grander scale adventure.

Out in the dessert, as you sandboard endlessly to the right, you quickly complete some missions and get yourself some new swag.

This helps you traverse your environment with new gadgets, the most dramatic of which is a board which lets you soar up the sides of hills.

It’s made by Toronto developer Snowman, although British artist Harry Nesbitt also had a helping hand in the project (as he did in Alto’s Adventure – you can check out some of his work a bit further below).

It’s cheap, too, costing but a mere £5 (probably about $10), looks the part, has a Zen mode which will really help you to relax, and it’s a pretty big triumph all round.

Special note to the fantastic soundtrack, too, which has a real soaring quality to it. Really, we can’t think of any other game you should own on your iPhone.

Yes, there might be Angry Birds, Candy Crush, and all that jazz, but Alto’s Odssey is much better than those romp alongs, has an incredibly polished sheen to it, and it’s a bloody joy to play.

GIF, GIF me do!

Wrapping up this review, take a look at the above GIF. Nice, huh? It also shows off one of the nifty wall climbing tricks you can learn as Alto.

Plus, you’ll need to get used to those sunsets in this charming of titles. We really do highly recommend this one! There are no excuses. Got it bought.