The App Store is replete with driving games, the majority of them arcade-styleracers. Every week a few more take their place amid the millions of apps in the store. But very few of them are worth your $0.99, or even more importantly, worth your time. Polarbit games, the people behind the Reckless Racing franchise have done a great job of making a fun and compelling top-down arcade racer for the iPad, three times running. Each Reckless Racing game combines detailed arcade-style graphics, rich multi-mode and multi-level race opportunities, and super-accurate controls that let you win or lose based on your abilities.
All three games share the same top-down view of the race course, your car, and your competitors. In race mode, you line up against five other competitors and steer your car around a dirt and/or tarmac course as fast as you can without spinning out, or driving into obstacles such as trees, ditches, or off a bridge into the water. There is a lot of bumping and pushing going on between cars, and you can use this to your advantage but also get abuse from your competitors as well. You start out with a basic race car and as you win races you earn money to upgrade your car or buy a faster one.
Let me say at the outset that one of the main things that sets the Reckless Racing series apart for me is the accuracy of the controls. There are three steering setups available: gyro, mini-steering-wheel, and left/right arrows. You can also alter the sensitivity of the steering, which I use to keep from overcorrecting after every turn. Polarbit has taken great pains to get the controls right and precise, which makes a huge difference in how enjoyable Reckless Racing is to play. While, sure, these kinds of arcade racers are an un-serious escape or time filler, still, nobody likes to be leading a race and have ham-handed controls send them off the short end of a pier to lose the race; it’s just frustrating. With Reckless Racing your little car will respond exactly to your inputs as you would expect. There are also controls for gas and brake and in versions 2 and 3 you can even move the buttons around the screen. After practicing with all three steering setups I like the left/right arrows the best, but obviously your preferences may vary.
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