Review: Touch Racing Nitro
by Staff Writer
May 3, 2010
Overview
Touch Racing Nitro is a unique kart racer made for the iPhone. Rather than traditional controls you place your finger on screen and drag, and the car will follow your finger. The further away your finger is the faster your car will go.
The game is a top down kart racer where you are in control of micro kart racers. The best way to play the game is with two thumbs.
Features
The game features 18 race tracks across three different tournaments. Each tournament has six different tracks per event, with three different car types, micro machines, 4x4 monster trucks, and super fast racers. Also included is time trial mode for each of the tracks, and there are 12 different vehicles.
The Good
From the opening race you can tell that this game is different than any other you've played. You get to control small cars at high speeds with a unique gameplay mechanic. It's definitely neat a few times through. If you get the hang of it there is quite a bit to do in this game. There are three lengthy tournaments with completely different car types. Then you can do time trials on any of the 18 tracks. The game is nicely designed with great 3D graphics on the small scale. The little cars are nicely animated from flipping around when colliding or landing on a jump. The courses themselves are all great looking with designs on the track itself.
The included soundtrack is good as it plays subtly in the background during races. Also good are the sounds of the game from the engines of the little cars to the sounds of the wheels.
The Bad
The game has unique controls, but unique doesn't mean good. You never feel completely in control of the car as you slide your thumbs out in front of your car. On top of that the control mechanic leaves your fingers blocking a big part of the screen more often than not.
As it stands you never can go as fast as you want, and controls are quite challenging simply because of the controls. All fun is evaporated as frustration ensues from the controls. Not only are the controls bad, but the physics of the game add to the frustration.
You can drive over the walls, but then get stuck outside the course needing to reset your position. Also if you get going the wrong way it's nearly impossible to get going the right way, and again you'll need to reset which costs valuable time. There will be many times where your car gets stuck in a place or going the wrong way, and the other cars will zoom past you.
Even the menus are a hassle to navigate as you'll need to press the next button multiple times just in setting up a tournament as the game recognizes your actions as swiping through the options.
