ArsGeek

I’ve been fooling around with Cro-Mag Rally by Pangea Software for a couple of days now, mostly during my commute and I’ve been very much enjoying it.  It’s everything Monkey Ball should have been – less monkeys, more fun.

The concept is simple, you play the roll of a stone, bronze or iron age racer equiped with the latest in fast moving vehicles.  You plow your way around the track racing against three others in an attempt to come in first.

There are 9 different tracks to choose from, each with their varying levels of ease and obstacles.  You can choose from 11 different vehicles and also grab a number of power-ups as you race around the track.  These range from weapons you can use against other racers (bone bombs, bottle rockets and torpedos to name a few) to better suspensions or turbo shots.

Cro-Mag Racer makes use of the iphone as stearing wheel.  To turn to the right, simply tilt the phone or pod to the right.  Acceleration is handled by the F or R arrows (forward/reverse) on the left side of the screen.  Power ups are activated on the right hand side of the screen.

I found that after the first race, steering had become quite natural.  Apparently it was not always so with this game but an update from Pangea made it much more manageable.  I didn’t have a problem with it once I became acclimated.

For the device it’s on, the graphics are good – not stunning but certainly no eye sore.  The controls are fairly intuitive but I did encounter several minor issues. The first is something that’s bound to happen on any game like this for the iPhone or iPod Touch.  The accidental pressing of the one button on the device.  In the heat of a close race, I nicked the Home button and just like that I was staring at a sideways version of my home screen.  That was a bummer.  The other issue I encountered was a bit of hand strain after about 30 minutes of playing, particularly on my left hand.  Or it could be that I’m just getting on in age.

I’m on day three with this game and I haven’t tired of it yet, which really says something about it.  It’s a great casual dip into racing that’s varied enough that I look forward to playing it and causual enough that 10 minutes is good for a few games.

My favorite track – Atlantis even drops the racers in favor of subs and ads a third axis to gameplay, up/down.

Cro-Mag Rally goes for $5.99 and is worth it – a far better deal than more expensive games available through the App store.  Note also that in both screen shots, I’m in last place.  It’s damn hard to play this game and take a screen shot.

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