Previews

Hands on with Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D for iPhone

Motion-sensing animal racing action

Hands on with Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D for iPhone

iPhones and racing games are a natural fit. Why? Because of the accelerometers, of course. Steering left and right by tilting the handset works like a dream, see.

Well, that's the theory at least. In practice, there's still a lot of work for developers to do to make sure it works well – over-sensitive steering can leave you floundering.

That said, zig-zagging all over the track is part and parcel of kart games, so Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D should be heap big fun on the iPhone. And such is the case, judging by our initial hands-on.

It's unashamedly inspired by Mario Kart, of course, as most cartoon karting games are. But the 3D visuals are smooth, the tracks are marvellously bumpy, and there's plenty of entertaining power-ups with which to smite your rivals.

The steering is pitched just about right, too; not too sensitive and not too sticky. You can tweak how sensitive it is in the Options menu, to suit your driving ability.

Triggering power-ups is neatly done by tapping their icon at the bottom right, while holding down your thumb at the side of the screen while cornering helps you drift.

It's great fun, anyway, and with Cup, Story and Time Trial modes to work through, should provide a decent amount of depth. Will it be better than its main rival Cro-Mag Rally though? Well, you'll have to wait for our review to find out.

Stuart Dredge
Stuart Dredge
Stuart is a freelance journalist and blogger who's been getting paid to write stuff since 1998. In that time, he's focused on topics ranging from Sega's Dreamcast console to robots. That's what you call versatility. (Or a short attention span.)