VS. Racing for iPhone is the first game from Maciek Drejak Labs and is a top down racer which reminds me of the old school classic Super Sprint.
The game gives you a top down view of the racing track with you and your opponents taking up just a handful of pixels as you race around a variety of tracks that twist and turn around the screen.
The tracks are to scale with the miniature cars but despite their size they provide lots of detail, tricky corners, fast straights and various surfaces that affect the handling of the cars.
The game has a narrative in the single player mode where you play the role of Ryan, a rookie racing driver who you have to bring up through the ranks of five championships on your way to the World Championship Finals.
While the narrative is fun it’s pretty irrelevant to the racing and luckily it doesn’t get in the way of it either. In fact you can move from race to race pretty quickly which means the action keeps coming thick and fast.
You have a choice of controls for your car which includes both touch and accelerometer controls. My weapon of choice was the touch controls which I found very responsive. You only need to worry about steering as acceleration is automatic.
Included with the auto-acceleration is a speed boost which helps you catch up if you are running behind the leader, however this is a double edge sword as this speed boost also applies to your opponents so large leads can be eaten into pretty quickly.
This is no bad thing though as it keeps all of the races exciting right up until the last corner and while this may be a little frustration the speed in which you can replay the race means that you can get your revenge very quickly.
The multi-player options are local bluetooth & wifi and Facebook leaderboards which includes a Ghost Mode so that you can races against your friends ghost cars. These are fun alternatives to the single player mode but GameCenter integration and online multi-player would be nice additions.
If you enjoy racing games of all descriptions you won’t be disappointed with VS. Racing especially if you can grab it while it’s still free. With future free updates also promised this could be a real bargain.
[rating: 4/5]What we like
What to know
Crust is a 2D cave shooter which for me at least is reminiscent of similar games that I used to play some 25 to 30 years ago. This is not necessarily a bad thing however, in fact there and many retro games that are as, if not more, popular as they were when they were originally launched.
In Crust for iPhone and iPad you take charge of a spaceship which has to negotiate the tight and dangerous confines of the caverns to clear them and move through the 9 levels. Only 9 levels is a little disappointing especially for newer gamers that may not fully appreciate the retro styling and game-play. However the 2 multi-player modes certainly extends the reach of the game and adds additional value, more on that later.
The single player mode certainly gets you prepared for the challenges that you will find as it includes a basic tutorial of how to control the ship, fire your selectable weapons and complete the required tasks.
The controls take a little getting used to, a virtual joystick on the left of the screen controls both the direction and speed of your craft while multiple buttons done the left side of the screen enable you to access your weapons. This can be a little tricky, esp. on the iPad in the heat of battle as you will have to move your fingers up and down the full height of the screen which can result in failing to engage the enemy for a vital split second that can render you dead!
You have a choice of ships on each level, each with their own positive and negative aspects including the number of weapons, speed of cooldown and shields and this choice can have a significant effect on the outcome of each level so choose wisely.
While the single player mode provides only limited enjoyment it does prepare you for the multi-player options that can take place online against up to 7 additional players or on a single device in split screen mode where you can enjoy twice the fun on a single device as you play cooperatively through the campaign mode.
The online cross platform multi-player mode certainly promises to offer added value to the game with multiple game types, unfortunately though each time I’ve played the multi-player version of the game there has never been more than 1 other person available in a game which has limited the promise of a massive online multi-player gun-fight.
Crust will certainly appeal to some players who are looking for some retro cave shooting fun but at $2.99 for a universal app with a limited single player mode and only a few players in the online version of the game there are better alternatives out there for everyone.
[rating: 2/5]What we like
What to know
On rare occasions I will tell you to go and grab a game immediately and then come back and read this review…….this is one of those occasions and to be honest what do you have to lose when all you’ll be spending is 99 cents on a universal app that will work on both your iPhone and iPad should you be lucky enough to have both.
You may be thinking, especially if you already have Asphalt 6, why should I even spend more money on the next version of Gamelofts arcade racer and the simple answer is this, it’s Bigger, Better, Faster and there’s more of it, so much in fact this review may only scratch the surface of all the features that are packed into this racing game.
If you have played any of Gamelofts games before then you will know what to expect when it comes to sound and graphics, and in Asphalt7 Heat they continue to lead the way a rainbow of electric lights that illuminate 15 different tracks from all around the world and with a pumping soundtrack the game is a dream to both see and hear.
There are four control options to choose from so you are bound to find one that suits your driving preferences, from using the accelerometer, on screen steering wheel or the screen itself the controls work very well, and you can also choose from auto or manual acceleration depending on your preference.
The quality of the controls are highlighted due to the fact that you can jump straight into Quick Play mode and start winning races immediately. Quick Race is just the beginning though, as the Career, Online and Multiplayer modes are where the real value comes in.
The Career Mode is spread over 13 cups each with 4 different races and these include normal races, elimination, knockdown, paint job and king of the hill which all offer slightly different variations on driving as fast as you can around the streets of the world.
As you work your way through the career mode you’ll have the ability to unlock and upgrade a great range of licensed cars, from a Mini Cooper S to the Shelby GT 500, from a BMW Z4 to the Lamborghini Countach and everything in between. There are 60 cars in total so there should be something for everyone.
The cars handle as well as you would expect for an arcade racer, the game relies heavily on drifting but this is relatively easy to control, early on at least, only when you start to unlock the bigger, faster cars does it get a little trickier, by the time you unlock them though you’ll be well practised, right?
Of course you don’t have to work through the game and earn your racing stripes to unlock all the flash cars, instead you can purchase your in game dollars by spending your hard earned dollars via in-app purchase but it’s well balanced, meaning that if you are willing to put the time in you can achieve your rewards without the need of spending above and beyond the original $1 outlay.
The online options are really where the game comes to life and it does this in two ways. First up is the online multi-player where you can race against your friends, and enemies, in any combination of race types and locations. The online mode works well, the games come thick and fast and there is relatively little slow down, it adds a whole new dimension to the gameplay that will keep you playing Asphalt 7 for a long time to come, or at least until Asphalt 8 comes out!
If you don’t want to want to race against people online in real time you can choose the weekly event that makes up the Asphalt Academy and see how far up the world rankings you can get.
With the game being a universal app it’s good to see that your progress can be transferred between devices. Asphalt Tracker allows you to transfer your progress between devices using either Facebook, or Gameloft’s own servers and while this isn’t quite as seamless as iCloud syncing would be it works and prevents you having to play the game twice across all of your devices.
Asphalt Tracker also enables you to send offline challenges to your friends via Gameloft which just adds more depth to an already deep game and that’s before mentioning the goals are Gameloft’s equivalent of GameCenter Achievements.
After all this eulogizing you’d think that perhaps I didn’t have anything bad to say about the game, that’s not the case. Asphalt 7’s all about social gaming and this takes the form of Facebook integration, the problem with this is though that between races and for every earned goal you are prompted to confirm whether or not you want to publicize the achievement and if you don’t want to bombard your Facebook newsfeed with your progress it can get a little frustrating.
If you’ve got this far and have not been simultaneously downloading Asphalt 7 on your iOS device you have permission to do so now!
[rating: 5/5]What we like
What to know
I often found that with fighting games many people who find their favourite version stick with it. If you liked Mortal Kombat you didn’t like Street Fighter and if you liked either of those you wouldn’t like Tekken. I think this was more due to the control systems on each game that varied slightly and once you were used to one it was difficult to move to the other.
The fighting genre has never been hugely successful on the iPhone yet, partly due to the touch screen controls or the less than perfect graphics but now there is a serious challenger in the form of Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior from game developers Indiagames Ltd.
Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior is a 3D fighting game which leans on the martial arts side of fighting which is no surprise given the martial arts star who lends his name to the title.
The first thing you’ll notice about Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior are the beautiful graphics. From the motion captured characters including Bruce Lee himself to the multiple gorgeous locations that ooze quality and while the environments cannot be directly interacted with they are animated which add extra depth to the graphics.
Just as in life a game needs more than looks to be successful, Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior does not disappoint here either. The controls are simple enough, a virtual d-pad along with two action buttons to kick and punch are all you need and combinations for these buttons over a large variety of moves.
Not all moves and combos are available from the start but as you progress through the game additional moves become unlocked and enable you to grow your character the more you play.
While the controls are easy to pick up they will take a while to master especially some of the special and end moves that took me a while to accomplish. This is not all bad though as it keeps the challenge going and always provides you with a target.
There are multiple ways to play the game too. First, there is the story mode which is how you unlock most of the additional characters, moves and artwork! This mode combines a variety of challenges, from one on one fights, survival matches, where you have to fight multiple opponents in a row with only limited energy gains between matches, and tournament.
Completing these challenges help you progress through the game and earn you XP enabling you to level up and unlock the previously mentioned items.
After unlocking the moves you can assign them to your character so that you can customize him to your own preferences, this degree of control is nice and enables you to have some control over the style of your character.
All of the game-types that you get to play through the story mode are also available to play individually as well which adds additional value to the game. That’s before you even consider the 30+ achievements detailed statistics and artwork that includes stills from Bruce Lee’s movies.
The only thing missing for me from this game is a local multi-player which would enable you to fight your friends not to mention an online multi-player which would make your very own dojo!
Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior is a very accessible fighting game that pushes the iPhone and shows what is possible when a developer puts time, effort and energy into a game. If you want a great looking fighting game that will keep you occupied for a decent amount of time get yourself over to the App Store and spend three dollars on this great game.
Reviewed on an iPhone 4
Price: $2.99 (App Store)
Category: Games
Released:May 20, 2010
Reviewed Version:1.0
Size: 84.7 MB
Language:English
Seller:IGFUN LLC
© Bruce Lee Enterprises, LLC 2010. All Rights Reserved
Requirements:Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later.