Game review: Real Racing - iPhone / iPod Touch

These might seem like bold claims but Real Racing has the quality to justify them.

While every other car racing game on the iPhone and iPod has been mediocre at best, Real Racing is the real deal.

Australian firm Firemint are clearly believers in quality over quantity. They have only released two games into the App Store but both have become instant classics.

Flight Control was the epitome of casual gaming – going to number one in country after country after sucking more than a million people in with its addictive air traffic control challenge.

Now Real Racing has come along. It doesn’t just set a new benchmark in the racing genre, it also redefines iPhone/iPod gaming full stop.

Many games have at least one key selling point. Some games have breathtaking graphics, some have fast-paced action, some have perfect controls and some have clever features such as online play or different game modes. There are not many games that have the complete package, but Real Racing does.

Real Racing is a huge game in many ways, not least in the amount of content it provides.

The game features 36 cars across hatchback, sedan and muscle classes. There are really only half a dozen individual cars because the only difference between most of them is their livery, but this is actually a good thing because it means driving skills determine success rather than car modifications. This is more of a racing simulation than an arcade game with power-ups, nitro and other rubbish.

There are 12 distinctive tracks to drive on, including seaside, desert and forest settings. All are beautifully designed with amazingly detailed scenery.

And there are five modes of play to choose from – quick race, time trial, online leagues, wifi multiplayer and a career mode which offers 57 events to work through. Real Racing works seamlessly with Firemint’s online Cloudcell system which keeps track of stats such as rankings and lap times. There is even YouTube integration so you can watch videos of your best performances.

Impressive as the amount of content is, it is when you get behind the wheel and actually go racing that Real Racing comes into its own.

I think my jaw nearly dropped to the floor when I first experienced the quality of racing on offer.

Clichés such as adrenaline-fuelled and high-octane are often used to describe racing games but with Real Racing they really do apply. The pace of the action is staggering.

Unlike other car games that can get jittery when too much is going on, the performance of Real Racing never dips, even on my 1st gen iPod Touch and even when there are up to six cars on screen at once.

There are two camera options – a third-person / external view of your car or a cockpit view. There are also two control options – touch or tilt.

By far the best combination for racing is the cockpit view with the tilt controls, a coupling which creates an exhilarating experience.

Controlling your car literally from the driver’s seat gives a great sense of speed. It looks and feels what I imagine being in a real racing car would be like.

There are loads of nice little extra touches which enhance the impression of realism, such as the digital dashboard displays for speed and lap time, the sunshine glinting off the windscreen and the horizon tilting as you tear around corners.

Meanwhile, Real Racing’s use of the iPhone / iPod’s accelerometer for steering (tapping the screen to brake or speed up) is probably the best example of tilt controls I’ve yet seen. Clumsy and clunky controls spoil too many racing games but in Real Racing the controls are responsive and smooth.

The options don’t end with camera and controls. You can also choose between manual or automatic acceleration as well as select what level of braking assistance you want. These features make the game instantly accessible to newcomers, but they also mean you can tweak the settings to match your personal preferences as you gain in skill and confidence.

Another hallmark of Real Racing is the quality of the computer opponents. They aren’t drones which you just have to steer around to gain positions. Nor are they road hogs intent on blocking you with no interest in winning the race themselves. There is also no rubber-band effect where your opponents’ performance is matched to your own.

Instead the computer opponents are intelligent racers. They operate within the normal rules of racing, meaning they will drive carefully enough to stay on the track but fast enough to try and beat you to the finish line. But at the same time they are not afraid to rough it up too, cutting corners to save time, bashing your car if you try sneaking past on a bend and taking advantage of any errors you make. This human-like AI makes for a much richer racing experience than your average motorsports game.

Realistic car engine noises and thumping rock soundtrack add to the intensity of the game.

Real Racing was an enormously ambitious project for Firemint to take on and it could have been a dreadful disappointment. But all the effort put into creating the game has paid off, with Real Racing delivering on all fronts.

This games sets a new standard for technical excellence on the iPhone / iPod. With peerless graphics, intense action and a raft of features, Real Racing leaves all other racing games on the platform in its dust. It's a masterpiece.

Verdict: 9.5 out of 10 – If I gave it a full 10 then what score could I give an updated version or a sequel at a later date? As it currently stands Real Racing is about as close to a perfect racing game as it’s possible to get.