Barclaycard have already racked up 14 million downloaded on the App Store from Waterslide Extreme App. Now FishLabs is having another crack at making an App for the brand, this time it's themed around the new Barclaycard advert featuring a roller coaster.
The main idea of this game is to drive a roller coaster carriage across the finish line before the clock runs out of time. By accomplishing this the player will unlock more and more tracks in locations around New York such as China Town, Central Park and on the West Side. It isn’t as simple as driving from A to B. On a journey the player will find power ups which should be collected to receive bonuses that act as a speed increase.
To collect these power ups the player needs to sick to make the on screen character stick their arm out of the carriage. Leaving the player vulnerable to obstacles like caution signs getting in their way, resulting in a serious speed decrease. Players also have to make sure they don’t bang their heads when going through tunnels or under previous track, which will also result in a speed decrease.
Unlike some roller coaster games already in the App Store this uses a first person perspective, something I quite liked. Fish Labs have really simulated the feeling of being in a roller coaster well. Big drops and loop the loops share a realistic perspective. The buildings surrounding the coaster are nicely designing, if a little pixelated and jagged but not to the degree that it is completely unbearable to look at. The animation of the character sitting in the carriage sticking his arms out to collect power ups is very jerky and not pleasant to look at however.
The controls are simple, to duck obstacles press the virtual button on the bottom left and to use boosts use the virtual button on the bottom right. To collect power ups tilt the iPhone/ iPod Touch left or right which will be translated for the characters arms on screen. The controls worked flawlessly.
The sound effects of the roller coaster traveling along the track and picking up speed ect is all done well but not great. The attention to detail as the roller coaster speeds up and slows down could have been a whole lot better. The environmental sound is nicely executed with ambient noises like cars horning ect to make the player feel a New York City vibe.
Overall I would say Rollercoaster Extreme is worth checking out as it’s free and it does have a decent amount of content packed in for a free title on the App Store. But if they ever start charging I wouldn’t recommend.
