VS. Racing 2 Review – Two Steps Forward and One Back for this Top-Down Arcade Racing Game

VS Racing 2 review

VS Racing 2 review

Earlier this year we reviewed .vs Racing and thoroughly enjoyed it, the only flaw being the lack of online multiplayer and Game Center integration. Now though VS. Racing 2 has been released promising to address some of those issues and a lot more.

VS. Racing 2 is a top down arcade racer where you race your tiny car around 36 different tracks. Your car can, and will need to be, upgraded based on the coins that you earn competing in races. Don’t worry if you don’t like to have to tinker with your car though as all you can tweak is your speed, acceleration and off-road capabilities.

There are three modes to the racing, first up is the standard single player fare where you unlock tracks as you progress through winning races. Online multiplayer has also been addressed although this is not real time racing. Instead you get to set a time around the track and then challenge a friend to beat your ghost time. It’s an improvement on the original but still no replacement for full online multiplayer racing.

VS Racing 2 iPad

Finally there is local multiplayer racing and this time there is the addition power-ups that you can pick up on track and unleash on your opponents including mines, oil and speed boosts to name but a few. This is a nice addition should you have the occasion where you have a group of friends available to play locally.

Once again the controls work well with three options available for you to pick from, these are virtual buttons, virtual steering wheel and the accelerometer. All of these are work well and it will really be down to personal preference as to which one works for you. What would be nice if it was possible to control the sensitivity of these controls too.

VS Racing 2 iPhone

While the controls work well within the game the same can’t be said for the navigation menu’s which are sluggish. Sluggishness is also a problem in the loading of each level which considering the racing tracks are so small take a long time to load.

The tracks do look nice though, they show a good level of detail around the tracks should you ever find the time to look at it as you race around the track at speed. There are also multiple surfaces which directly affect how the car handles which you will have to take into consideration unless you want to go from 1st to 4th in a single corner.

VS Racing 2

With the addition of Game Center achievements as well as the ghost online racing this is certainly an improvement on .vs Racing, however the sluggish navigation and long load times let it down.

If you want to give it a try then VS. Racing 2 is available in the App Store for $0.99.

Rating: ★★★½☆

What we like

  • Secret levels with power-up
  • Lots of detailed tracks
  • Multiple control options
  • Game Center achievements

What to know

  • Slow load times
  • Sluggish navigation

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