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> Review :: Slot Car Racer by MadBeetle, Rating 5 out of 5
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post Jan 20 2005, 02:12 PM
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The instructions tell you some very basic information concerning how the races and track editor work.



What's that? You already know how a slot car racing game works? Well why didn't you say so! Lets get on with the ACTION!

When you select the New Game option you see this screen. You are shown the level, laps, difficulty and track direction. Ok, press the Race button.



You are presented with an overhead view of the track at the start/finish line. There is a racing christmas tree light set that signifies when to start the race. Trust me, jam on the gas now. There is no such thing as a false start, and the computer opponent will SMOKE you off the line.



Just like the real thing, Slot Car requires finesse with the controller. Too much gas in a turn and your car will go flying right off the track!



The first, second, and probably third time you play this game your car will more resemble an off-road vehicle than a slot car. It is madening how easy the car comes off the track. But play a few rounds and you soon learn how to keep the car on the track. Notice I didn't say win? That's because winning will elude you for a while. The computer opponent simply does not come off the track unless it collides with you. When you come off the track, you will be automatically put back on at the point you left the track after a short pause.

So that's it. That is how the race works. First one to the finish line gets the trophy. Notice the red won? Guess which color you get... It isn't red.



Obviously the more you play the better you get. But the computer is pretty unforgiving. You play each track until you either win or are sick of playing. There are a total of 10 built in tracks.

From the main menu, the Continue option allows you to come back and start where you left off. The Free Race option lets you choose a track, number of laps, difficulty and track direction. This way you can try out all of the tracks even if you can't beat the computer opponent.



Here are screenshots of all of the track layouts:









Ok, so you've managed to beat the computer on all of the tracks. Now what? How about the included track editor? That's right folks, MadBeetle included the track editor right on the phone. When you start up the editor you pick from one of the existing 10 tracks:



But something you should keep in mind, is that you will actually be changing the track that came with the game. You can't save a copy of the track and have 11 or more tracks. I won't go into the specifics of how the track editor works. You can play with it once you get the game. But here is a screenshot of a track being edited:



Finally there are some basic setup options from the main menu's Setup page:



That's how the game works. But how does it play? Is it really like the slot cars of your childhood? Is it worth the $4.99? The short answers are Awesome, Yes, and Yes. This game is madening and hard to walk away from. It's like Lays potato chips: you can't have just one. I found myself saying "just one more race" over and over and over again. This is a cool little game that will find a nice home on your SmartPhone.

Did I have any problems or recommendations? No and Yes. The game works great, but what would really be cool is multiplayer support over iR or Bluetooth. Playing a slotcar game against a friend on another phone would be AWESOME!

Download a trial from MadBeetle

Buy it from Clickgamer

EDIT:

MadBeetle responded to correct and add some things about the review. This is what they said:

[1] The AI does come off (occasionally) on the tracks with the really tight corners. Infact the AI changes the way it drives depending on if its behind or in front. If its behind it’ll drive with speed and care, if its in front it backs off a little and slides the corners more aggressively so may come off. As the game progresses in difficulty though it’ll make less mistakes and drive faster. But your car will also be able to drive faster so evening it up, but more speed can mean more mistakes.

[2] There are 20 tracks in total. 10 of which are used in game mode, and are un-editable. The only way to play these 10 tracks is to play in game mode. The other ten tracks don’t appear in game mode, only free race mode and these are the ones you can edit.


So I guess I just have to play more (poor poor me) to get to tracks 11-20! Also, they are considering bluetooth support for the next version!


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