Talismanic Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto has lavished praise upon Angry Birds, telling us Rovio's mobile smash is his favourite game of the past year.

Miyamoto admitted the high regard in which he holds Rovio's game, which has been downloaded over 600 million times, during an interview in Paris yesterday.

"I usually don't comment on these sorts of questions," Miyamoto said, before praising the Nintendo-developed audio guide for the Louvre museum which prompted his visit to the French capital. "Non-Nintendo… Angry Birds, maybe.

"What I like about Angry Birds is that it has a traditional videogame [feel] to it, but also a very creative side. And you can really feel that they’re having fun developing the game. That's what I like about it."