Speed R Update: Even more ways to fulfill your virtual death wish

We rarely do posts devoted to upgrades of games, but I was a big fan of Speed R, and when I saw that there were two new play modes, I got extremely excited.  Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed.

Let me reiterate: I really enjoy this game, and for the price of $0.99 it is a steal.  So even though I'm not a big fan of these two new modes, the game is definitely worth recommending.  To read the original review, click HERE.

Okay, enough disclaimers.  What's new?

In addition to some nice little housekeeping changes (which you probably won't notice), the app now has two extra game modes: "Cop R" and "Killdoz R."  You can probably figure out what these are, but let's look at them one at a time.

"Cop R" is very similar to the original game. You drive a squad car very fast around other cars.  You must avoid the other cars and make it as far as possible.   But instead of racking up points based on distance, you get points based on how many speeders you pull over.

Unfortunately, pulling a speeder over consists of that old familiar "stay in front of the blinking line" gameplay you use in the original game to avoid the cops.  This mode throws in an arrow that tells you which lane you must be in to catch the speeder, but that's about it.  Also, it sometimes takes FOREVER before you pick up your first speeder, so for the first chunk of the game you are avoiding obstacles without racking up any points.  Very frustrating.

The "Bulldoz R" mode has a similar problem.  In this one, you are on a strict timer and you drive a pimped out bulldozer type car (that can still speed faster than all the other cars).  Your goal is literally to rack up as much damage as possible in the time allotted.

This one was a lot of fun and a nice change of pace from the original gameplay, but bulldozing other cars is only fun for a little while.  You must avoid cops, but since you don't have to worry about running into things, it takes some of the drama out of it.  This mode would be a good way to take out some pent-up hostility, though.

In the end, though, I'll probably end up playing the excellently designed "standard" mode.  It's a lot of fun, so why mess with what works?  Still, I like knowing that developers will revisit their games to add new features and try new things, even if the updates are less exciting than the original app.

You can buy Speed R HERE.