TapCritic – Honest iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch App Reviews

I’ve bitched many times before about how I hate driving games that involve tilt control.  In general, I just can’t get the hang of using the iPhone to drive. Usually these games are first-person driving games, where you are “behind the wheel.”  Speed R goes a different route.

It reminds me of an old handheld game I used to play on long car trips.  Instead of a first person view, you get an overhead view of your car zipping quickly down the road.  Your goal is to pass up cars without hitting them while also avoiding cops and construction.

It’s a very familiar game, but what sets this one apart is its clever use of the iPhone tilt control.  For once, there is a quasi-driving game whose controls are well set and intuitive.  Tilt forward or back to change lanes, and tilt left and right to speed up and slow down.

What makes the controls so effective, I think, it the fact that the developer provides a custom calibration screen each time you start up the game.  This means that whether I am sitting up, standing, or laying down, I can customize the controls to reset the “center” position, and I don’t have to hold the phone perfectly horizontal or vertical for it to work.  It’s a great touch.

Another fun feature in this one is the ability to unlock new cars with different handling, speed, and durability.  When using the tilt controls, you really do notice a strong difference in how different cars handle and it adds quite a bit of personal preference to the game.

This is another simple game…the kind I’m known for adoring.  Instead of splitting the app into levels, challenges, and boards, the goal is simply to make it as far as possible (measured in miles) before hitting so many obstacles that your car becomes un-drivable.

There is even a nice little “evade the cops” feature on this one.  After you get picked up by radar, a line appears on the screen.  If you don’t stay in front of it, you get nabbed and lose.  If there is one complaint I have about the app, it is that this feature, while cool, is insanely hard and puts a limit on how far I’m able to make it.  Hopefully with practice, I’ll be able to progress further…I guess you can’t really fault a game for difficulty, but it’s a shame that the game jacks it’s difficulty level up ten fold at the same point in each run.

Overall, though, this is a great little app…not terribly original, but well worth the modest $.99 asking price.

But you don’t want to pay for this, do you?  No, you want to get it for free.  And luckily, we have a code just for you.

All you have to do is leave a comment.  Tell us about your favorite driving game of all time…and why it kicks ass.  I’ll choose one comment at random and send a code your way.  

You have 24 hours from the time this gets published to comment.  Get to it!

If you think comments are lame, you can buy Speed R HERE.

Related posts:

1. Speed R Update: Even more ways to fulfill your virtual death wish
2. Need For Speed Undercover – Am I playing this on a console?
3. Burning Tires Lite: I don’t think I’ll buy the full version.
4. Country Driver: Run over evil, cut-out sheep the old-fashioned way!
5. ParkingLot – She keeps stealing my apps.