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We’ve had our share of great arcade racers on iOS lately and CitiRacing [$0.99] looked to continue that trend. With good locales and solid foundational gameplay, it seemed to be on the right track, too. Unfortunately, missteps in terms of replayability, redundancy and a lack of online multiplayer hold this game back from shifting into a higher gear.

The first thing you’ll notice when you get into a race in CitiRacing is its distinctly urban environments. More importantly, the game does a decent job of making you feel like you’re racing on city streets. Tracks range from downtown streets (complete with parked cars to avoid and skyscrapers that occasionally block your view) to freeway overpasses to even a farmers’ market. CitiRacing isn’t strictly a metropolitan affair either, as some stages also take you to beach towns and snowy suburbia.

Another solid aspect about CitiRacing is the gameplay itself. Races play out somewhat similar to Reckless Racing 2 (to toss out a recent racing game), but with a greater emphasis on drifting. I also enjoyed the physics – vehicles can (and will) flip, roll and barrel out of control if you’re not paying attention. Control-wise, CitiRacing only has one control scheme. I personally had no problem with it, but it would have been nice to have a few more options.

You’ll be racing through these maps via a standard ‘Championship’ cup single-player mode. Each cup has a variety of stages that has racers earning points based on finishing position. Do well and you unlock extra vehicles and the next set of tracks. A single race mode also allows you to replay any map that you’ve unlocked.

Championship mode works well enough, but it’s somewhat barebones. There’s no cash/upgrade system like other similar racers. While each vehicle handles differently, there’s no stat line that actually shows the differences. Also, CitiRacing is extremely easy; most players will easily take the gold on the normal difficulty (’easy’ difficulty is pretty much a joke), with only some challenge on hard mode. All these translate into a game that doesn’t have as much replayability as it should.

Continuing this trend are the tracks themselves. While CitiRacing boasts 45 different tracks in its description, it’s not that simple. In reality, there are 15 different tracks, each with three different orientations (with one of those three taking place in a night setting). Each orientation changes both the camera angles as well as starting positions. Most maps do a good job making each orientation feel different, but it’s still obvious that you’re playing the same map several times.

Visually, CitiRacing’s graphics mostly get the job done. There’s nothing particularly fancy about overhead cartoony visuals but it works well with the overall game. There are a few hiccups, such as the occasional inability to discern between changes in elevation (which can cause your car to lose control if you aren’t paying attention), but overall there’s not much in terms of gameplay detraction. The same goes for the game’s framerate, which runs at a smooth clip with little slowdown.

In addition to its single player offerings, CitiRacing also has local multiplayer via Bluetooth or WiFi. Up to six players can participate in a match (either single races or Championship) and you can substitute CPU drivers for any open spots. Despite some lag and an errant disconnect, I found local multiplayer to be entertaining. However, the lack of an actual internet multiplayer feature will most likely prevent a lot of folks from even checking out this mode.

CitiRacing feels like a game perpetually on the edge of being great. This theme seems to permeate most aspects of the game, from the multiplayer to the tracks and beyond. As it is, I still had an enjoyable time with CitiRacing and would recommend it for racing fans simply because of the locales and core gameplay. However, folks looking for the next racing masterpiece will end up looking elsewhere.

TouchArcade Rating:

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If you’ve been following along with TouchArcade for a while, then you should know that one of our favorite pastimes is playing the asynchronous multiplayer racing game Disc Drivin’ [$1.99/Lite/HD]. Ah yes, Disc Drivin’. It first released in December of 2010, and there honestly aren’t any other games that have been out for that long that I consistently play on a daily basis. Granted, it hasn’t quite grabbed everybody like it has me (but bless your heart for trying, Eli), but for those who love the gameplay Disc Drivin’ has simply incredible staying power.

Disc Drivin’ developer Pixelocity is trying to ensure that myself and those like me will continue our daily racing obsession, and have just released the biggest update for the game to date. There are five(!) brand new tracks to compete on, all taking place in a brand new snow-themed environment. In this new environment you’ll (literally) run into two new kinds of obstacles: one is a giant snowball that will explode on impact and slow you down a bit, and the other is an ice block which will block your path before finally breaking and disappearing after it’s been run into a few times.

Other improvements include a badge count that updates without needing to open the app first (finally!), support for the new iPad resolution in the HD version, and resigned games will now go into your completed races list rather than sticking around in your current games list. If you aren’t sure what this Disc Drivin’ business is all about, then definitely give the free version a try. It’s the complete game, but has advertisements that pop up in-between turns. They’re really not that bothersome, but if ads really get your blood boiling then the full version can be yours for $1.99 or $2.99 on the iPad.

Above is an overhead view of the five new track layouts and pictures of the two new obstacles in the game. Also, check out all of our previous Disc Drivin’ coverage from the links below:

• Original Disc Drivin’ Review
• Online Matchmaking Update
• iPad Version Released
• Three New Tracks Update
• Three MORE New Tracks Update
• Customizable Disc Update
• Cast of “Mad Men” Love Disc Drivin’

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Way back in the summer of 2010 (wow, where does the time go?), I was very pleasantly surprised with Oyatsukai’s Final Freeway [Free], an homage to Sega’s classic OutRun arcade racer. You could tell straightaway that there was plenty of love put into Final Freeway by somebody who absolutely adored the source material, and unsurprisingly this love translated into fun gameplay for those craving an on-the-go OutRun-alike.

While we praised Final Freeway in our review, it was missing a couple of core components that make an OutRun game, well, OutRunny. First was a lack of branching paths when you reached the end of a track segment, which normally would allow you to choose your own path to the end of the race. Instead Final Freeway was just a straight shot through its 6 environments.

The second big thing that was missing was the ability to crash and flip your ride. Sure, this is just a visual thing that doesn’t really affect gameplay, but it can’t truly feel like an OutRun game unless you can barrel into a tree at 160mph, flip your vehicle through the air several times while the passengers are ejected, and have both the car and the people come out completely unscathed. Also, where was the pretty blonde riding shotgun? Maybe she was there, but since the car wasn’t a convertible in Final Freeway, I’ll never know for sure (these things matter).

So there you have it, Final Freeway was an awesome OutRun clone with a few minor flaws. Fast forward to earlier this month, and Oyatsukai has taken all the feedback from the original Final Freeway and put it into the sequel, Final Freeway 2R [99¢], which truly is the OutRun game we’ve been waiting for. All the things we felt were missing from the first game? Those are in Final Freeway 2R, and it even does a couple of neat new things that really differentiates itself from OutRun while still retaining the feel of that series.

The first big thing in Final Freeway 2R is that there are now 13 different environments to race through in total. Each complete game has you racing through 5 of them, with a branching path at the end of each that lets you pick which route to take. It’s super OutRunny! Also, the graphics look a lot better this time around, with more detailed sprite work and a greater draw distance. The sense of speed in Final Freeway 2R is just ridiculous, and puts most other racers to shame. All the while it runs at a rock-solid framerate.

Of course, you can also now flip your ride in Final Freeway 2R, which as I’ve explained is incredibly crucial to the experience. You get a convertible faux Ferrari this time too, so you can actually see your blonde lady friend sitting in the passenger seat. In a cool twist over the original, you can now choose from 3 different drivers in Final Freeway 2R, each with their own set of stats. One of these drivers actually is the blonde cutie, and when you pick her one of the other fellas ends up riding shotgun. Equality!

One other interesting change from OutRun is now you actually have a rival of sorts shadowing you through each environment as you race towards the end goal. If you manage to reach the end of a track segment before he does you’ll get an additional bonus. It’s not integral to the overall experience, but it does add a nice bit of extra motivation to actually have an opponent to race against rather than merely trying to beat the clock.

Overall, Final Freeway 2R is a huge improvement over the original, and I just can’t believe how hooked I’ve been on it since it came out. It’s just pure, simplistic, fast-paced, arcade racing fun. If you’re not really an original OutRun fan but are curious if this sort of gameplay is your thing, then for today only you can grab the first Final Freeway for free to see how it grabs you. If you like that, then just know that Final Freeway 2R improves on everything from the first and will set you back just a buck.

TouchArcade Rating:

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We don’t normally dabble in business-centric news. Let’s be honest, buyouts are rarely interesting, and lately they all seem to have to do with the free to play world which is often even less interesting. With that caveat, here’s a recent buyout that might be interesting, mostly because Fabrication Games has made actual games (and great ones at that). We’ve actually reviewed quite a few of them.

Fabrication is responsible for the steampunk racer Ionocraft Racing, a slick little augmented reality game called Piclings, the retro platformer Niko, the absolutely fabulous casual puzzler Sprinkle among other titles. Oh, and when we met with them at GDC, they’ve got some even cooler stuff on deck.

Co-Founder Tommy Palm explained to me this morning that his acquisition should hopefully give the Fabrication Games team the resources to take these sort of games even further with the development budgets afforded by having access to the comparably deeper pockets of King.com. So, potentially games of the quality level of Sprinkle with even bigger budgets?

Where do I sign up?

Also, if you haven’t yet, mash some of those links up there and check out some of the games they’ve released. They’re great.

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You may not have noticed since it was a short-lived situation, but just before this past weekend Retro Racing [99¢], the fun old-school style top-down racer from Mr. Qwak, was pulled from the App Store. The sole developer behind Mr. Qwak explains the cause for the removal in a blog post on his website, but in short it was due to trying to change his Apple developer account from personal to business and hitting a few snags along the way.

The real bummer is that Retro Racing had just launched last month and was doing pretty well, selling between 1000-3000 copies a day. It sure sucks when that number abruptly drops to 0 when you aren’t expecting it. Mr. Qwak advises not making changes to your developer account during a new release period like this, a lesson he learned the hard way.

The good news is that Retro Racing has returned to the App Store, and before the removal business happened it had received a great new update. First off, the previously iPad-only same-device multiplayer mode has been enabled for iPhone and iPod touch users. It’s tiny, but it works, and I appreciate its inclusion since the local multiplayer is one of my favorite parts about Retro Racing.

The next big addition in this newest update to Retro Racing is 3 new levels, with more levels already planned for future updates. One of our biggest gripes with the game in our review was that it was so short, so it’s nice to see that being addressed. Finally, iCade support has been added to the game, which seems like a perfect fit for the style of game that Retro Racing is. You can see Retro Racing in action on the iCade in this gameplay video from the developer.

I like Retro Racing quite a bit, and am happy to see the developer account situation sorted out and the game back on the App Store. The new update is nice too, though I still have one outstanding gripe: landscape support. The game feels so cramped in portrait mode on the iPhone that I find I can only play it effectively on the iPad. Granted, it feels awesome on the iPad, but still. Maybe that option can be added in the future, but everything else about Retro Racing is top-notch, and if you hadn’t checked it out previously be sure to give it a look now that it’s back.

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Here’s a fun Friday story for you- Disc Drivin’ [$1.99 / Free / $2.99 (HD)], if you’ve never heard of it, is an a turn-based racing game that both Jared and Arnold can’t get enough of, still. The basic idea is if you took a game like Mario Kart, but gave it online turn-based multiplayer, and used a flick-based shuffleboard-like mechanic to race your discs around a track. We’ve got a pretty extensive review in the books, but since then, the game has been updated a whole bunch of times with all sorts of new stuff.

Anyway, in a recent short interview with AdWeek, Rich Sommer, the actor who plays Harry Crane on AMC’s Mad Men dropped some interesting details on the gameplay habits of the cast and crew:

Disc Drivin’ is a racing game that I’ve been playing a lot lately with Jon Hamm; Jay Ferguson, who’s also on the show; our head hairstylist; and our makeup artist.

Celebrity endorsement for apps and games isn’t a new thing, but it always seems like whenever a celeb’ is tweeting about the game they’re playing, it’s usually the same ultra-popular junk everyone else is playing. Disc Drivin’, however, is seriously obscure compared to something like, I don’t know, Temple Run.

So, yeah, if the folks behind Mad Men are playing Disc Drivin’, you totally should be too. Right?

[via AdWeek]

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So here’s something cool you may not have noticed about the new iPad: If you’re playing an iPhone game (or using an iPhone app) that has Retina Display assets for the iPhone, it will use the higher resolution set of assets. On previous models of the iPad, this functionality required the jailbreak utility Retina Pad. It actually makes a massive difference.

It’s a little hard to do that accurate of a comparison without just looking at both devices side by side, but I’ve doubled the resolution of the iPad 2 screenshots on the left to be the same size as the new iPad on the right. It may seem exaggerated, but the difference is even more noticeable when you’ve got a game like Flight Control running on two iPads side by side.

If you remember, back when the iPad was first released to make up for the complete lack of iPad-specific apps, Apple added the pixel doubling functionality to allow iPhone-specific apps to run full screen. The results were always a pixelated mess, and while it worked, it was a pretty terrible overall user experience. Now, with (almost) every iPhone app coming bundled with Retina Display assets, this new fullscreen functionality actually results in surprisingly decent looking upscaling.

Of course, iPad apps and games that are actually designed for the Retina Display of the new iPad look tons better, but now you don’t need to essentially write off any non-universal app as being a huge pixel party.

UPDATE: Here are some shots of Real Racing 2, an iPhone-only game with Retina Display assets as well as Real Racing 2 HD which is optimized for the Retina Display of the new iPad:

iPad 2 running Real Racing 2 pixel doubled:

New iPad running Real Racing 2 utilizing iPhone Retina Display assets:

Real Racing 2 HD running on iPad 2:

Real Racing 2 HD running on new iPad:

There are differences in lighting between the screenshots since each version of the game seems to render the scene at a different in-game time of day. Also, the iPhone versions running full screen on the iPad have a slightly different UI so I tried to line things up as close as I could. Regardless, the jump in quality is just astounding, and it seems like the image quality between iPhone Retina Display-ready games and non-Retina Display iPad games is pretty similar.

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When it comes to platformers and racers, RedLynx (1000 Heroz, DrawRace 2) knows a thing or two about what makes the genres successful on iOS. The trend continues with MotoHeroz [$0.99 / HD], a time-trial based platforming racer with an emphasis on physics. Sporting refined gameplay elements including a good implementation of asynchronous multiplayer, MotoHeroz does a good job combining genres into an interesting gameplay experience.

Based on the WiiWare game of the same name, MotoHeroz combines the time-trial based platforming elements of previous RedLynx titles with vehicles and upgrade mechanics. Each level pits you in a race against the clock to get to the other end of the map. Some maps offer power-up items ranging from turbo boosts to jetpacks in order to add some variety. Stars and cash are awarded based on your speed. You can then use that cash to upgrade your vehicles, which allows you to earn previously unreachable stars, and so on.

Make no mistake, while the general gameplay sounds simple, MotoHeroz can get quite difficult. This is especially true once you find yourself needing to earn that second or third star to advance to the next world. Players looking to succeed will need to master fine-tuning their jumps and landings in order to squeeze out as much control and speed as possible. The controls add another layer of difficulty on top of the game, as I found it challenging to effectively manage the items and landings.

All this leads to a game that involves a lot of trial and error. While veterans of the genre may be used to it, newcomers may be met with frustration. Still, for fans of memorizing tracks and patterns, MotoHeroz is almost as good as it gets. Alternatively, folks can also hunt for treasure chests in each level that bestow a decent amount of cash for upgrades (which make star chasing much easier).

If neither of those actions appeals to you, you can always purchase cash via IAP and pimp out your ride instantly to earn those stars faster. This is one area that MotoHeroz falters somewhat. While it’s theoretically possible to earn enough cash to upgrade your vehicles enough to collect more stars, it can be a fairly lengthy process and is not for the impatient. In this sense, the IAP will certainly prey on a lot of gamers. However, MotoHeroz deserves some credit simply because a viable non-IAP method of advancement does exist.

Unfortunately, this version of MotoHeroz is a bit lacking compared to its console cousin. The total number of levels was reduced from 100 to 30. A few other modes (single-player story, multiplayer) were also omitted. However, there’s still enough content for a worthwhile experience, particularly with its asynchronous ghosts and multiplayer leagues.

While MotoHeroz doesn’t have live head-to-head action, the asynchronous multiplayer via racing ghosts is well done and acts as a great substitute. Each level will pit you against a ghost for the next available star, as well as an actual player that raced the track. As you set times in each level, you’ll be matched with player ghosts that are slightly faster than your best time. The ghosts are an important element to the overall success as MotoHeroz as it provides you with continual motivation (as if getting all the stars weren’t enough) to perfect each level.

MotoHeroz also allows you to form ‘Leagues’ that can replace the overall leaderboard, meaning that your racer ghost will be someone from that league. Leagues can be created and joined by any other player (in fact, you can join the ‘Touch Arcade’ league that our forum members have created). It seems like a minor feature, but I found it much more gratifying to actually play against folks you know.

Visuals and overall presentation are areas where MotoHeroz succeeds really well. Environments are detailed, vibrant and do a great job echoing the personality of the vehicle for that region. The framerate is also fast and smooth, which definitely enhances the experience. MotoHeroz even gets the small touches right, such as having an instant restart button for quick do-overs.

Despite the shortcomings in content and difficulty, MotoHeroz is still a great addition to the platform racer genre. While I think the ‘hardcore’ nature of the gameplay will appeal mainly to the hardcore fans, the supplemental league ghosts and leaderboards do a good job of providing additional goals that might appeal to a wider audience. Regardless, fans of platform racers (or previous RedLynx titles) need to check this game out.

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