Racing on the Small Screen
Racing games benefit from big screens. Most sports find a way to translate well to smaller handheld systems like the GBA or mobile phones, even if they are drastically simplified. After all, most sports games take place within a contained and static playing field. Racing games, on the other hand,...
Racing games benefit from big screens. Most sports find a way to translate well to smaller handheld systems like the GBA or mobile phones, even if they are drastically simplified. After all, most sports games take place within a contained and static playing field. Racing games, on the other hand, and especially arcade racing titles like Smashing Drive for the GBA (review) and Midtown Madness 3 for mobile phones (review), deal with a variety of environments which are, by design, always changing. As such, it becomes increasingly important for the racing game developer to make optimal use of what little screen real estate there is.
Features like bright color palettes and crisp graphics are essential. Just as important, however, are smart track design decisions. Twisting courses with tons of on-road obstacles do little more than confuse the player (and increase the frame rate) of handheld and mobile racing games. The goal is to mix complexity and challenge while giving the handheld racer all the information he needs to be successful on-track.
How do MM3 and Smashing Drive fair on their respective platforms? We've got our opinions, but we'd like to hear yours too.
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