4x4 Extreme Rally 3D

The thrill of clambering into the driver's seat of a racing game in the arcades, the pedals at your feet, the high-octane four-wheeled speed demon ready to be unleashed, has always been an irresistible pull for gaming junkies.

On mobile too, racing games offer an almost perfect pick-up-and-play adrenalin rush for gamers – yet the standard has been somewhat varied. For every Dakar '08 and Need for Speed ProStreet fighting for a podium position, there's a Lego Racers and 2 Fast 2 Furious pulling up the rear, trying in vain not to be lapped.

With that in mind, Gameleons' 4x4 Extreme Rally 3D skids into the picture and, if not competing with the very best, it certainly has qualities to hold its own towards the front of the chasing pack.

There are three game-modes available: Time Trial (try to beat the time set by your rivals), Race (head-to-head racing with four other cars), Cup (three consecutive races of Time Trial, Race and Slalom).

Once you've selected the mode there's then the small matter of choosing your wheels. You can pick from four cars, each graded by top speed, acceleration, traction and handling. These attributes can be increased by using the tuning credits you win after each race (you start the game with four, and can earn a maximum of four after each race, depending on the finishing position).

Taking to the track, you can select a number of top-down views to race in. As is often the case with mobile racing games, acceleration is handled automatically so you only have to concentrate on the steering and braking.

We should also obviously point out that you fling your car around the 3D terrain with ease, and it's great fun. The problem arises from having to learn how to approach trickier bends.

Now, we are well aware that getting too close to obstacles such as trees, bushes, rocks and fences tends to have a negative effect on a car – especially one doing crazy speeds – but we feel in this area Extreme Rally is a little unforgiving.

Frustratingly, the slightest brush of your car onto any of these obstacles stops it dead in its tracks. There should be some give and you shouldn't always lose all your momentum unless it is a head-on collision. While we're here, another frustrating thing is that the opponent cars can be pigs to actually get past.

Having said that, these problems become less pronounced once you develop into a more accomplished driver, so our advice is to keep at it.

Gameleons should be applauded for putting Bluetooth multiplayer capability into the equation, too, a feature that is still often overlooked by developers. We were very impressed with how well it worked. Head-to-head competition with a friend on separate phones results in lively bouts of racing.

Oh, the graphics are very polished, detailed, smooth and they whip along at a good rate. The cars actually look like cartoon versions of real rally cars, almost like radio-controlled cars, which adds an extra bit of charm. There are no sound effects, however, but the game has a good selection of well-composed ditties for you to choose from.

At the chequered flag, then, 4x4 Extreme Rally 3D is a pretty good game rather than a great one, but if you put in the time you'll definitely discover a fun, if short-lived, little racer.

4x4 Extreme Rally 3D

4x4 Extreme Rally has quick-play potential and is a polished affair. The two-player Bluetooth facility cranks up the fun, too, yet slight handling and collision detection issues prevent this from qualifying in pole position
Score
Chris Maddox
Chris Maddox
Liverpool fan, Chris, loves to watch the mighty Redmen play. In between matches however, he's an avid mobile games reviewer for Pocket Gamer. Chris has assured us that he only thinks about Liverpool FC a mere 80 per cent of the day.