Game Reviews

Touch Racing Nitro

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Touch Racing Nitro

Bravo Game Studios's Minis port of its iOS remote control car racer is a thorough disappointment.

This is not because it's a mediocre game, but because it feels stripped down when compared to the original, and because it leaves the unshakeable impression that it's just a couple of months' development time away from being brilliant.

The biggest change BGS has made to Touch Racing Nitro is in the game's controls, rendering the title's name obsolete and on a system with no touch controls.

The transition has otherwise been a smooth one, however -the little runabouts handle beautifully with the D-pad and face button interface.

Playing like a cross between Micro Machines and Super Sprint, the action of moving your vehicle is decidedly simple. A blessing, as the courses themselves can be fiendishly tricky to navigate at speed.

We need more

The game is set across three loose themes and types of track – Tarmac, Dirt, and Speedway – and 18 circuits and a trio of opponents stand between you and victory on three difficulty settings: Beginner, Driver, and Ace.

Mastering them on the easiest difficulty is a cinch, the game automatically limiting your speed at specific intervals to the point that you'll barely need to think about your brakes.

Ramping up the difficulty to Driver is the beginning of the game proper, and it's very easy to go careering off track with the acceleration aid off. Ace increases the ability of your opponents, but it's by no means an insurmountable challenge.

Progression through the championships in the various difficulties unlocks access to new vehicles, though differences between cars are merely cosmetic.

End of the great credibility race

You'll quickly burn through most of the Tournament mode, and so it's on to the other main offering - Time Trial mode - which is decidedly lacklustre.

It's just the player versus the track here, with few options for customising your play time. There are no options for just a single lap trial for, instance - you can only be timed across the full length of a race.

You can't try out vehicles from other championships, and times are set entirely by the player, so your goals are entirely self determined.

The engine in which Touch Racing Nitro is presented isn't perfect. Slowdown occurs during Tournament mode due to the presence of other racers on the track, though the title's Time Trial option is exempt from this, only stuttering when the physics of obstacles on track come into play.

The world chugs at times, but it's otherwise a cleanly presented little racer. Textures are surprisingly high resolution, the HUD is minimal, and vehicles stand out clearly from one another, even when bunched on the course.

The uneasy compromise of a zoomed-out camera allowing for a good view of the track but not upcoming angle gradients can become frustrating, as can a too-repetitive soundtrack, but TRN is otherwise solid in terms of presentation.

Shoot the offshoot

When placed against its iOS equivalent, this offering becomes a little less impressive. Gone are the in game trophies, out is the ghost time download feature, missing are the online leaderboards. This stripped down version of the game for PlayStation's Minis service is tough to recommend over its iOS equivalent.

Touch Racing Nitro is just a little development time away from being utterly superb. The core game is strong and the hour or so of play you'll get out of it is great fun. But it's the trimmings that let it down.

With some online functionality or even local multiplayer, this could have been a strong contender for that rarest of accolades - a 'must have' Minis title.

As it is, it's just another forgettable outing for Sony's lacklustre smaller games platform.

Touch Racing Nitro

The potential of this top-down racer far exceeds its final quality in what is ultimately a hollow and feature barren offering when compared to the iOS original.
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Peter Willington
Peter Willington
Die hard Suda 51 fan and professed Cherry Coke addict, freelancer Peter Willington was initially set for a career in showbiz, training for half a decade to walk the boards. Realising that there's no money in acting, he decided instead to make his fortune in writing about video games. Peter never learns from his mistakes.