VoodooVyper
07-01-2009, 02:09 PM
DrawRace
Review by: VoodooVyper
http://images.appshopper.com/icons/320/231609.png
iTunes
[Full (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=320231609&mt=8)] - $0.99
[Lite] - N/A
AppShopper (http://appshopper.com/games/drawrace)
http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r30/Purple/88/f4/17/mzl.lilhwupg.480x480-75.jpg
DrawRace isn't your normal racing game. In DrawRace, the player 'draws' a line with their finger that will match their car's intended course of direction. For example, on a track with 2 laps, the player will draw the ideal path that he wants his vehicle to go in twice around the lap. Moving his finger faster for higher speed and slower to brake. Sounds easy? Well, it's not.
This is one of those titles that will keep you coming back to shave those precious seconds off of your time. Sure, the concept is easy... draw a line that will direct your car... but, taking corners too fast will cause your car to skid, which results in a loss of speed. To be the best, you need to successfully find the ideal path around a total of 20 unique and challenging tracks.
http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r30/Purple/bc/6c/84/mzl.wbldbjmb.480x480-75.jpg
Each track has a unique feel to it, sprinkled with track-side objects like tires and barriers. No particular track feels like it was sloppily made. As I mentioned, there are 20 tracks. This is a huge number of tracks given the asking price of $0.99, but I would love to see more.
So, what's the point of drawing your way to victory? Well, to start, you race against 1 other computer controlled player. The structure of the game has you play sections of levels, before unlocking others. You are given 5 levels to start, and you have to earn a gold medal (by beating the opponent) to unlock the other 5. Once a level is completed, you can go back and race against a ghost of your best time or do a time trial.
http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r30/Purple/d2/fd/8e/mzl.drpcduoq.480x480-75.jpg
As if the polished graphics, unique gameplay, and large amount of tracks wasn't enough, RedLinx threw in a multiplayer function as well. In addition to racing the time trial and against your own ghost, you can also race against the ghost of a human player. You may ask 'how does it decide which ghost I race against?' Well, that's where the global and national leaderboards come in. Each track features it's own leaderboard that you can submit your time to. It tells you what position you're in and the percentile of players you did better than. When racing against a human ghost player, you race against the person who is right above you in the leaderboards. I love this feature, as it takes away from having to race against your own ghost to get a better time. This is a refreshing twist that, technically, makes every race a new race (assuming you beat the player above you). You can also race with up to 4 players on one iPod via hotseat mode.
Overall, the only complaints I have about the game are strictly the menus. There is no way to view the leaderboard for a track unless to re-play the race. Granted, any race won't take any longer than a minute or two, I would still like to have that option available. In the leaderboard itself, I would like the option to be able to scroll the list, instead of seeing a handful of players above and below me.
http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r30/Purple/17/e9/fe/mzl.kewfuoju.480x480-75.jpg
The features I would like to see added are a friends list, and a little more to the leaderboards. For instance, maybe a leaderboard that totals all times from all tracks. Of course, only players that complete all the tracks would be eligible for this leaderboard. Also a trophy and/or point system in which you earn points for being in a certain percentile (the higher you are, the more you earn). Players can earn trophies by getting 1st 2nd or 3rd place times in the tracks and the trophies can get added as bragging rights to their player profile. This opens the door to have a leaderboard for players (as opposed to having them just for each track specifically). Players would be able to view other a list of other players total points, how many trophies they have, how many races they've done etc. The possibilities are endless.
Score: 4 out of 5. This game is recommended for fans of overhead racing titles, and other such titles like Flight Control and Harbor Master, since the scheme of control is similar. This would be a 5 star title if the leaderboards were beefed up.
Review by: VoodooVyper
http://images.appshopper.com/icons/320/231609.png
iTunes
[Full (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=320231609&mt=8)] - $0.99
[Lite] - N/A
AppShopper (http://appshopper.com/games/drawrace)
http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r30/Purple/88/f4/17/mzl.lilhwupg.480x480-75.jpg
DrawRace isn't your normal racing game. In DrawRace, the player 'draws' a line with their finger that will match their car's intended course of direction. For example, on a track with 2 laps, the player will draw the ideal path that he wants his vehicle to go in twice around the lap. Moving his finger faster for higher speed and slower to brake. Sounds easy? Well, it's not.
This is one of those titles that will keep you coming back to shave those precious seconds off of your time. Sure, the concept is easy... draw a line that will direct your car... but, taking corners too fast will cause your car to skid, which results in a loss of speed. To be the best, you need to successfully find the ideal path around a total of 20 unique and challenging tracks.
http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r30/Purple/bc/6c/84/mzl.wbldbjmb.480x480-75.jpg
Each track has a unique feel to it, sprinkled with track-side objects like tires and barriers. No particular track feels like it was sloppily made. As I mentioned, there are 20 tracks. This is a huge number of tracks given the asking price of $0.99, but I would love to see more.
So, what's the point of drawing your way to victory? Well, to start, you race against 1 other computer controlled player. The structure of the game has you play sections of levels, before unlocking others. You are given 5 levels to start, and you have to earn a gold medal (by beating the opponent) to unlock the other 5. Once a level is completed, you can go back and race against a ghost of your best time or do a time trial.
http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r30/Purple/d2/fd/8e/mzl.drpcduoq.480x480-75.jpg
As if the polished graphics, unique gameplay, and large amount of tracks wasn't enough, RedLinx threw in a multiplayer function as well. In addition to racing the time trial and against your own ghost, you can also race against the ghost of a human player. You may ask 'how does it decide which ghost I race against?' Well, that's where the global and national leaderboards come in. Each track features it's own leaderboard that you can submit your time to. It tells you what position you're in and the percentile of players you did better than. When racing against a human ghost player, you race against the person who is right above you in the leaderboards. I love this feature, as it takes away from having to race against your own ghost to get a better time. This is a refreshing twist that, technically, makes every race a new race (assuming you beat the player above you). You can also race with up to 4 players on one iPod via hotseat mode.
Overall, the only complaints I have about the game are strictly the menus. There is no way to view the leaderboard for a track unless to re-play the race. Granted, any race won't take any longer than a minute or two, I would still like to have that option available. In the leaderboard itself, I would like the option to be able to scroll the list, instead of seeing a handful of players above and below me.
http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r30/Purple/17/e9/fe/mzl.kewfuoju.480x480-75.jpg
The features I would like to see added are a friends list, and a little more to the leaderboards. For instance, maybe a leaderboard that totals all times from all tracks. Of course, only players that complete all the tracks would be eligible for this leaderboard. Also a trophy and/or point system in which you earn points for being in a certain percentile (the higher you are, the more you earn). Players can earn trophies by getting 1st 2nd or 3rd place times in the tracks and the trophies can get added as bragging rights to their player profile. This opens the door to have a leaderboard for players (as opposed to having them just for each track specifically). Players would be able to view other a list of other players total points, how many trophies they have, how many races they've done etc. The possibilities are endless.
Score: 4 out of 5. This game is recommended for fans of overhead racing titles, and other such titles like Flight Control and Harbor Master, since the scheme of control is similar. This would be a 5 star title if the leaderboards were beefed up.