Cubed Rally Racer is an arcade 8 bit style racing game. You the player drive a cubed car around a track trying to get to the finish line before you run out of fuel. The game features something very unique within from other racers within the App Store. Because it generates random tracks. So every time you choose a new track it is completely different to the previous which is a feature I enjoyed the most from Cubed Rally Racer. That element of surprise adds a huge amount of replay value to the game.
When driving your rally car around the tracks you have to be careful to get to that finish line though. When drifting around corners or dodging cows make sure you don’t fall of the track resulting in starting the track from the beginning. If you run out of fuel you will also need to start the track all over again but fuel to fill your car is scattered all over the tracks along with nitro tanks to give you a speed boost.
The graphics are great for an 8 bit style game but I feel that it lacks lots of different colors and needs to have more textures which would make the environments a whole lot more impressive. The sound feels like it was ripped of a racer from my Sega Master System which is arcade, yes. When you finish a track and go over a finish line and celebratory music plays in a retro style, of course. All helping to give the game a nostelgic feel.
A good physics engine has been incorporated. When jumping over boats from a ramp which is very fun, but also very satisfying when you land too.
The controls are simple with the default being an accelerator pedal on the right of the screen and a steer left and right buttons on the on the other side. The steering buttons are very close together which can make you go in a direction you didn’t intend to. I think in a future update you should be able to choose how far apart you would like the buttons to be and then the problem would be eliminated.
The camera angle is spot on. As said by gamers ‘if you don’t think about the camera it ain’t broke’ and I haven't thought about the camera once while playing Cubed Rally Racer. I only thought of it when writing this review and similar games like Micro Machines have really awkward camera angles where the camera gets lost behind an obstacle and you the player can’t see your car in result.
The game has the inbuilt social gaming network OpenFeint where you can upload scores to leader boards and race against your friends ghost to beat their time on a track they have raced on.
Overall I would recommend Cubed Rally Racer to anyone who enjoys arcade racers like Micro Machines and RC Racers and its definitely the best of its genre currently in the App Store.
