So after looking through Apple’s iTunes App Store I thought Crash Bandicoot looked the best racer for casual racing. I was looking for something fun and easy to play but also that I could pick up and play any time I wanted for instance on the bus or waiting in a long queue.  It cost £5.99 from the App Store and was downloaded and synced to my iPhone within 30 seconds, so far I was happy with the process and had high hopes of the games use of the accelerometer.

After playing it a couple of times I can say the game was built from the ground up for the iPhone, it was not just a simple port over with restricted controls.  The graphics are great for a mobile platform although this is less important compared to the gameplay where it truly shines.  During the races the game uses constant forward drive meaning you only have to turn the kart left or right, now you might think this makes the game harder as you won’t be able to slow down before corners but since this is in essence an arcade game it is not necessary.  You are able to reverse however this is a last option and in my usage never needed. With the controls so simple it is easy for anyway to jump in, it’s like the Wii of mobile phones and makes the true gaming experience even better.

A slightly annoying point is the arcadey music, now I don’t mind living some retro style but after playing it for so long it can get annoying but this can easily be turned off or you can listen to your own tunes while you play.  With that niggle sorted the game has very little flaws, some people have reported having slight lag or slow down with the frame rate however so far my game has flowed perfectly so whether it’s just certain units or old versions I don’t know. I’m impressed with the load times as well with minimal wastage so you can just jump in as soon as possible where in the past mobile games have had extremely uncomfortable loading sessions. With the accelerometer comes the problem of how sensitive you want it and many games on the App store are fixed at a certain limit but here on Nitro Kart they have allowed an option to vary it. As some people will turn the device more than others I congratulate them for putting this in the options and hope other developers take heed and use it in future releases, it makes the game open and enjoyable to a wider range of people.

Nitro Kart 3D combines an 8 mission story mode, 3 four leg race cups, a time trial mode and a quick race mode. The downside of this game is there is not much to complete and the 5 unlockable racers are quick and easy but then where the game does shine is in its ability to literally pick up and play whenever you want. Regardless of the fact you might have completed the game weeks ago you’ll still pick it up and do a quick race and be surprised by the different routes each time.