Game Reviews

Traffic Racer

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| Traffic Racer
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Traffic Racer
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| Traffic Racer

When video games are cited for corrupting our youth and setting them off along an unlawful path, it's usually outlandishly violent examples like Doom or Manhunt.

I'd argue that Traffic Racer is far more like to prompt a real-life felony.

Having spent some time with this accomplished arcade racer-cum-endless-runner, I fear for the next person who steps into the passenger seat of my car.

Road rage

The key appeal to Traffic Racer is that it touches on that peculiar urge most drivers have to suppress at one time or other.

You're sat in traffic on the same boring stretch of road, eager to get to somewhere more fun. Anywhere, in fact. Wouldn't we all love to put our foot down and thread between the dawdling lanes of traffic like some Hollywood hotshot?

Traffic Racer is a very simple game, but its greatest achievement is that it models that simple tire-screeching duck and weave sensation to near perfection.

You view your car from behind. Acceleration is on the right side of the screen, while brakes are to the left. Steering is achieved by tilting your iPhone or iPad, and it's very responsive indeed, to the point that you'll be threading in between traffic like a stunt driver in no time.

Points on your licence

You gain points for maintaining a speed above 100kph, overtaking cars, and driving against the flow of traffic.

There's not a lot more to Traffic Racer than this, really. It's got a clean, chunky visual style that suits the real-life premise nicely, but it's unlikely to excite.

Its spread of game modes is pretty sparse, too. You can either get as far as you can without crashing in Endless mode (along a one-way or two-way street), see how many points you can accrue in 100 seconds in Time Trial, or just drive for the sake of it in Free Drive mode.

It's also got an annoying structure that requires a lot of grinding just to unlock better cars and new tracks - unless, of course, you're willing to splash out some more real cash.

But there's no denying that it gets the basic feel of high-speed traffic negotiation just right. Boy racers, frustrated commuters, impatient couriers - heck, anyone who's ever been angry or bored while driving a car before - should consider giving it a try.

Traffic Racer

A deeply enjoyable if plain and somewhat miserly casual arcade racer that nails the feeling of zipping through traffic at high speeds
Score
Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.