Entries for the 'Racing' Category

Gameloft has released another in their series of HD games and Ferrari GT Evolution remains true to form. This is a sparkling showroom of Ferraris assembled to dazzle the masses with their visual splendor. Is it all a flashy show or is there some real horsepower underneath the glitz? Let’s pop the hood and kick the tires of these high-priced thoroughbreds and see if they fulfill a young man’s fancy.

The fertile Need For Speed series has spun out yet another offspring for your mobile device in NFS - Undercover by EA. Released to coincide with its similarly named sibling for consoles, has it delivered another chip off the old block? Let’s take a peek under the covers and see what the newborn brings. 

The family resemblance is apparent as you choose your races from a jigsaw puzzle map of the city in your quest to conquer areas. In fact, the sense of déjà vu’ is undeniable as you run races, win money and upgrade and buy cars.

Rally Master Pro, one of 2008’s finest mobile offerings, is available for free from fishlabs.net, at least the first 9 races. Whether or not you will want to pop for the full games depends on how much of a challenge you want on your mobile phone. Nevertheless, don’t pass up this opportunity if you’re interested in mobile racing. 

Without having to worry about having other racers on the track with you, Fishlabs was able to use the extra resources to thoughtfully fine tune other areas of Rally Master Pro and give us features not found in any other mobile racer.

Woo Hoo! As soon as that maniacal marsupial Crash Bandicoot spins onto your mobile screen with his trademark theme song you know you’re in for a wild and woolly ride. Vivendi Games Mobile and Polarbit have brought Crash and his cohorts to 3D life on your mobile device in Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D and in the process have sent a warning shot across the bow of Nintendo.

 

With more and more kids at a younger age walking around with more powerful cell phones with bigger and better screens the market is expanding exponentially for better 3D mobile games. One lap around N-Sanity Island will convince you that while Nintendo may lead the pack in casual on-the-go gaming, mobile devices have closed the gap and are poised for a strong second lap.

I-Play has taken over the saddle from THQ Wireless for this seasons officially licensed MotoGP mobile racing game and added their own brand of hi-octane to this motorcycle franchise. Taking a high speed motorbike around a turn at 120 mph with only your kneecap and two credit card size pieces of rubber touching the ground has to be a hair-raising experience. MotoGP 08 seeks to simulate this on your mobile device and as such it does a remarkable job.

The Fast and the Furious franchise, with 13 million copies sold, has unveiled its lasted model in The Fast and the Furious: Pink Slip 3D (also known as The Fast and the Furious Streets). I-Play has engaged Firemint to develop this edition and they have come up with the best looking Fast and Furious game to date.

 

Pink Slip does a good job of capturing the underground street racing scene as most of these races take place at night or in the early morning hours on the streets of Los Angeles, Miami and Tokyo. There are two modes of play, quick race and arcade or career where you bet your pink slip against other racers and unlock cars, tracks and four different types of races (street racing, drag racing, drifting and cop chase).   Pretty simple. Unfortunately, unlike The Fast and the Furious: Fugitive, there is no story to propel you through the game. Pink Slip is a stripped down racer that concentrates on racing.

What does the hottest 3D mobile racing franchise do after its lapped the field of contenders? It puts the pedal to the metal and tries to get further out of sight! The Asphalt series from Gameloft has never lost the lead in high-speed mobile racing and with the recent release of Asphalt 4 Elite Racing it unveils its latest road beast.

 

If you’ve played Asphalt 3 Street Rules you know what to expect. Gorgeous graphics, possibly the best ever seen on a mobile device, coupled with great sound FX and game play that combines the best of the Need for Speed and the Burnout series’ for consoles. All this being shoehorned into a multi-functional handheld cell phone amounts to a pretty impressive achievement.

 

Unbelievably, Asphalt 4 looks a little better than 3. The modeling of the cars appears smoother and more detailed and by the time you unlock the awesome Bugatti and Shanghai you’ll have to say your cell never looked better. Besides which, Asphalt 4 gives you a better way to enjoy this graphical goodness - a landscape mode! All mobile games need to offer this option to narrow the gap with the PSP.

Fishlabs of Germany, the maker of such ambitious and well-regarded titles as Deep 3D and Galaxy on Fire, have taken the plunge into new waters with another unique 3D experience for your mobile phone in Powerboat Challenge.

 

The feel in racing a powerboat thru a turn is different than a car. Momentum, buoyancy and build are all factors that come into play. Fishlabs models this feel nicely as your   boat carves through the turns. You start by choosing from 4 racers and their boats each with unique handling, size and weight. One is short with a round bottom for turning another is long and sleek for top speed. There’s one that’s short and jet-like with low stability and finally a heavy, bulky one with good power. The boats can be upgraded as you progress through 4 distinct islands which gives the game a nice hook.