Price: $2.99

Publisher: Polarbit

Reckless Getaway by Polarbit sets a new bar for excellence in 2D/3D driving on the App Store.  The game revolves around you dodging cops and obstacles yet the real fun comes by destroying your surroundings.  As the getaway car for a bank robbery (shown in an opening cut scene), the game puts you in several different vehicles in a quest to get away.  All the while a great soundtrack puts you in the mood to drive.

The controls are very well done and you will be able to pick them up quickly.  Weaving in and out of traffic earns you points (as does hitting cars and knocking them off the road).  Throughout the levels you will have several different vehicles at your disposal and each handles based on the size of the car.  The controls are incredibly responsive which allows you to make last second decisions like whether to jump a pit using the ramp or bypass it using the nearby dirt road.

The graphics are great and look very smooth on my iPhone 4.  Despite the utter destruction of the environments as you drive past at maniacal speed, you won’t notice any slowdown and the details all look fantastic.  The sound is also well done.  The music in the background gives you a fantastic back beat to the getaway and the crashes and explosions throughout are all well done as well. The production value on this game is incredibly high and a pat on the back should be given to the sound and graphic guys at Polarbit.

The real meat of the game is making a getaway and earning points.  You start with the possibility of earning 4 coins.  Each time you wreck you lose a coin with no way of gaining it back during that level.  These coins are important because getting enough allows you to unlock the next 4 levels of the game.  This is worth noting because as the game becomes more difficult in later levels, these coins are increasingly hard to get.  You’ll find yourself going back to an old level and replaying it a ton of times just to gain the 4th coin you missed the first time around.  That being said, it does provide a fun system of unlocking and rewards a player fairly consistently with new levels.

You’ll also find powerups as you’re driving through each level, each one providing some additional benefit to your car.  These help you rack up the points quickly which in turn help you earn towards those four coins mentioned above.  In all, the game is a blast to play yet won’t take much more than a few hours to finish.  Regardless, for just 3 bucks Reckless Getaway it is well worth it and I highly recommend buying it.

Overall Value for it’s $2.99 price point

Overall: Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Graphics: Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Sound: Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Controls: Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Price: $2.99

Publisher: Remedy

Reviewer: Cody Sharp

I remember playing RC Pro Am for the NES for hours at a time when I was younger.  If you aren’t familiar, it was a racing game that gave you the added ability to upgrade your vehicle with weapons, nitro, a better engine and more.  It was entirely awesome.  Even now I’ll open up the old NES emulator and play it.  After playing Death Rally, there may no longer be any need to.  The iPhone has finally got a game comparable to the original 1988 title.

Death Rally offers beautiful graphics, several tracks, tons of different modes and a lot of different cars.  Each of the cars can be upgraded with weapons (new weapon parts can be collected as you race), a faster engine, better handling or upgraded armor.  The sound within the game is top notch and so is the overall production quality.

The game does have some issues with camera angles as it offers two but for whatever reason will intermittently switch back to the other angle from time to time.  I prefer the second camera which follows along with the action right above your car while the first angle gives you more of an overall 45 degree view.  Nevertheless, besides this hiccup, the game runs smooth on my iPhone 4 and offers hours of gameplay options.

Remedy has already released several updates for the game including new cars, weapons and the like.  A game like this is easy to pick up and play and I have been playing it a lot over the last couple of weeks while riding the stationary bike in rainy/cold Indiana.  Take a bit of a leap and pick up this $3 title today.  No other racing/action game on the iPhone has yet to do RC Pro Am justice like Death Rally does.  Pure fun.

Overall Value for it’s $2.99 price point

Overall: Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Graphics: Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Sound: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Controls: Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Price: $.99

Publisher: Turborilla

If you like motocross games past or present you should take a long look at Mad Skills Motocross. This game has it all, great graphics, great sound, fun gameplay, and most of all challenging yet fun levels.

The look and feel seems like just any other run of the mill motocross game but when you start playing you will quickly realize that Mad Skills Motocross is much more. There are 2 types of gameplay, Career and Time Attack. Each mode has 5 divisions that you must work your way through. Each division has 10 tracks that must be conquered before moving on to the next division. Each division is increasingly more difficult than the last so beware some tracks will take you dozens of tries before you finally cross the finish line in first. The Time Attack mode allows you to go back to previous tracks you completed in Career mode and try to beat your own time.

The game’s graphics are crystal clear and are some of the best I have seen for a dirt bike game. The audio is on par with the visuals. The bike sounds along with the in game sound track is pretty good.

The controls are very simple to use and very straight forward.  All of the controls are “buttons” on the screen. The throttle and brake are on the left and the tilt controls and special button are on the right. You can swap the sides in the options menu if you feel the need. There is also an accelerometer option that allows you to tilt the bike by tilting your iPhone or iPod. I found this quite difficult especially after using the buttons for so long.

I can’t quit playing this game. I’ve been stuck on a track in the second division for 2 days now and it’s killing me, but I keep finding myself trying to beat it every second I get. This game only runs $.99 for all iOS devices so check it out.

Overall Value for it’s $.99 price point

Overall: Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Graphics: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Sound: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Controls: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Price: $4.99

Publisher: Cobra Mobile

Remember that old racing arcade game with the pedal and the steering wheel that would spin forever? You could see the entire track and your little car would zoom around it and inevitably crash into a wall.  If you still don’t know what I’m talking about click here as it is a good example. Well imagine a new and improved version of that game on your iPad.

Danger Derby is the newest version of a classic racing arcade game. Danger Derby has four different types of gameplay ranging from the standard Arcade Mode, where you race to upgrade your car, to a Freeplay Mode that allows you to pick the track, the amount of laps, and number of opponents. Personally my favorite mode is the Challenge. It’s you against a ghost car, you continuously drive around the track trying to lower your time and beat the ghost achieving a gold star. The final mode, which is only available after it is unlocked, is the Mirror Mode. Once unlocked you can flip all of the tracks to give you even more variety.

Along with the four modes, Danger Derby serves up quite a few amazing tracks each with 3 difficulties. The tracks start out with a simple oval but grow increasingly difficult with more turns and obstacles.

Danger Derby does offer a multiplayer mode but its local play only.  I found it hard to play with two players because I like to hold the iPad when playing and not have it laying flat on a table, which is really the only way it can be played with two people.

The graphics are great. They are sharp and vibrant. I really like and respect the way that the game is visually setup like the old school top-down arcade game but updated and upgraded in a way that really makes the game pop. Adding to the poppiness (I know that’s not a real word) of the game, the music is perfect driving music. Most of the songs have a quick beat with lots of guitar. Hearing songs like this makes you want to put the top down and hit a country road.

The gameplay controls are all button based with the turn buttons on the left and the accelerator and brake on the right. The controls do take a few races to get use to but once you get the hang of it it’s like riding a bike.

There are a few things that I would like to see in future updates including more tracks (honestly you can never have too many tracks). Online multiplayer would be amazing addition for this game as well.  Even if the multiplayer wasn’t in real time but you could upload and compete against other player’s ghosts it would add quite a bit to the gameplay.  With these additions I wouldn’t think twice about the $4.99 price tag. As the game is right now, five bucks seems a bit much to ask.

Overall Value for it’s $4.99 price point

Overall: Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Graphics: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Sound: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Controls: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars