| Author | Review |
|---|
Astute Vagabond
518,203
TA Score for this game: 455
Posted on 16 June 12 at 14:32, Edited on 16 June 12 at 14:33 |
This review has 11 positive votes and 2 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
Originally written by myself for www.gamerscoreaddicts.net
Developer: Digital Reality
Publisher: Digital Reality
Bang Bang Racing is an arcade style racing game played from a top-down perspective. It is a port of Bang Bang Racing THD on Android and plays true to old style racing games such as Super Sprint and Championship Sprint; being easy to pick-up and play but difficult to master.
Gameplay
Bang Bang Racing is a gameplay driven game, which presents players with a few different modes across 3 game types. This game does not support online play - however it does have split-screen and leaderboard functionality. The core gameplay mechanic is driving, with a very fluid driving system and car classes which ease the player into controlling the fast apex cars. There are no power-ups or weapons (which are commonly found in most other arcade style racing games of this style); however there is nitrous oxide which learning to use efficiently can result in great lap-time improvements. There are also some obstacles scattered around tracks such as explosive barrels and oil spillages.
There is a Career mode which takes a tour of the game tracks and modes starting off with the slow N-Dura cars, which present the perfect opportunity to familiarise with the controls. The career mode then moves to faster car classes: Evo GT, Protech and finally Apex - all of which are very fast F1 style cars. The career mode is an enjoyable experience which provides a nice introduction to different game types such as elimination, time trial and standard race. It is also a perfect opportunity to adjust to handling the different car classes, increasing in top speed per class upgrade. Completion of career mode unlocks championship mode and each event that the player has obtained a gold medal in can then be attempted in a hard mode; this can pose a decent challenge.
Championship mode presents a tournament of racing events for each car class. The championships can be completed in split-screen with up to 4 players and adjustable AI difficulty. Unfortunately, this feels like a replay of career mode with less variation due to the championships being restricted to the standard race type only. The AI can often seem to be all over the place and are regularly found crashing into each other and corners.
Free Play mode grants many different options to customise the gaming experience - time trial being one of the most notable. Each track has a bronze, silver and gold par time for players to tackle. Some are relatively tight providing an adequate challenge even for advanced gamers. There certainly is no shortage of time trials. Six variants are available for each of the nine tracks, amounting to 54 trials. Each car class also has its own set of time trials giving a total of 216 for gamers wishing to push the limits and perfect every inch of the courses.
Graphics and style
The graphics are well presented in bold, bright colours with a shiny finish. The scenery has a cartoon style but with a realistic feel to it – like a large racing toy set. Before each race commences, the camera pans over the course displaying all the details (including track layout and shortcuts) with a key that informs the player with track length, number of laps etc.
Music
Bang Bang Racing is accompanied by upbeat tunes fitting for a game of this style. The music has a very short loop time making it repetitive. Hence, the music tends to become most unwelcome after a couple of hours spent in time trials; however the player could easily mute the game and listen to other music.
Longevity and replayability
The career mode should only take a few hours to complete with the additional four championships only adding another hour or two to gameplay. Time trials are where a lot of play time can be found as they are in abundance and can take several attempts to attain gold on a single trial. No online support greatly limits the replayability factor as once each challenge has been completed there is little incentive to repeat them.
Overall
The career mode provides a decent racing experience but is short-lived. There is little extra playtime to be found due to no online. Split-screen play may be enjoyed if players have three local friends to play with but there are better offerings on XBLA. The time trials may be very enjoyable (and slightly frustrating!), adding many hours to play time – such as shaving seconds off personal records towards the target of a gold medal - but I feel this content would only be extensively explored by players who thoroughly enjoy the game mechanics and don’t mind racing solely against the clock (better in my opinion as the AI don’t race well). Anyone who does put the effort in can find delight with the fluid control scheme, which is the main pleasure received by playing this title.
Rating: 5/10
 |