It must be said that we're loving Angry Birds Space. The extra elements provided by planetary bodies and gravitational pull make for a more satisfying game than even the original. However, as we zipped our way through the levels, we couldn't help feel a sense of deja vu.

And that's because we were massive fans of Spaced Penguin, the online Flash game that was extremely popular back in the early noughties - at 10 years ago.

The in-browser game featured a bird (Kevin the Penguin) who had to be flung from a catapult device through space around planets with differing strengths of gravitational pull. Sound familiar?

There were no pigs or structures involved, just a space ship that you had to fire Kevin towards and objects to collect on the way, but the physics and basic gameplay were the same. There was one element of Spaced Penguin that was dramatically different however (apart from the outdated, but retro-cool graphics), you could potentially send Kevin into a perpetual loop around a planet if you judged the strength just right. And, as he left a trail line behind to chart his path, it was akin to creating Spirograph-style patterns.

We're not suggesting that Rovio copied Spaced Penguin for Angry Birds Space, after all, there's more than enough extra in the new app that came out yesterday (22 March), but it is worth tipping a nod to a highly addictive classic that kept us entertained all those years ago.

And anyway, even if Rovio was heavily "inspired" by Kevin the Penguin's exploits, as developer Big Idea Fun turned into the Christian children's production company behind VeggieTales, we're sure it'll turn the other cheek.

You can still play Spaced Penguin on some of the online games sites around the 'net. However, considering its age, note that the high score tables no longer work.