App: Mini Motor RacingPrice: $0.99 (Free, at the time I downloaded it)Developers: The Binary Mill DeviceReview on: iPod Touch 3rd GenRating 4 out 5Lisisoft Link : http://appfinder.lisisoft.com/app/mini-motor-racing.htmlReviewer: Rico
As I was scrolling through the highest downloaded iPhone game apps, I happened to stumble across a then-free, now
$0.99
, game with 5 stars, Mini Motor Racing.
Most free iPhone apps bombard the player with adverts or a watered down `lite` version, it is very rare to find a fully fledged iPhone game for free, especially a good one. The game is simple to pick up, it is essentially a casual racing game which features cars racing in a miniature, remote controlled style.
There are many control schemes selectable within the games options menu to accommodate for a variety of preferences, with the default scheme using automatic acceleration and a steering wheel in the bottom corner which is, obviously, used to turn the car. The gameplay is very simple, and a bit shallow, especially with acceleration being automatic and no use of brakes to slow down, it`s fun for a quick gaming fix and is a unquestionably more of a pick-up and play game than a game which requires hours of investment and practise.
The in-game races are watched in birds-eye view and the graphics for Mini Motor Racing are definitely one of the stronger points of the game with everytrack using 3D graphics. The attention to detail is astounding even with countless racing tracks, each with their own day and night alternatives, it`s easy to see that the developers have invested a significant amount of time into this aspect of the game.
The one thing that blew me away with this cute little `scalextric-esque` game is the abundance of free material contained within: massive amounts of tracks, cars and championships with more being promised to be added for free.
The catch? There are In app purchases within the game, but nothing preventing the gamer from enjoying the game to its absolute maximum, all cars, tracks and races are available to the player and all that can be bought are unnecessary power-ups. There are currently 200 races in the campaign and almost two dozen unlock-able and upgradable cars with updates being added regularly.
As great as the game is, it is not without its flaws with the most notable being lack of game modes with every race being a standard race against AI - although 4-player multiplayer kind of makes up for this. Another aspect of the game which could be improved upon is the depth within races, for example there are no weapons or power-ups, apart from small nitro boosts, and once an opponent gets ahead of you, it`s hard to reclaim that number one spot -or maybe I just need more practise.
Apart from those small gripes I will say that good points of the game outweigh the bad by a significant amount and I can guarantee that this is a game that I won`t be deleted from my iPod any time soon.
