First Look at Car Mania « No DPad « iPhone Game Reviews and News

First Look at Car Mania

By Daniel Friday July 17, 2009

When I first opened up Car Mania, I was expecting another Flight Control copy/rip-off with a few twists here and there, but nothing absolutely cool or awe-inspiring. Looks like Origin8 completely proved me wrong, and this game includes some unique twists that can’t be found anywhere else.

Gameplay is similar to Flight Control in the light of the fact that you have to get the cars into the garages, and there are two color cars from what I’ve seen. Other than cars, there are trucks and motorcycles to join in on the road-raging fun. Unlike Flight Control and Harbor Master, you can crash your cars multiple times before game over. There is a road rage bar on the top of the screen, and once that bar fills up, it’s game over. Each car you crash fills up that bar, and the longer a car takes to get into the garage, the angrier the cars get, hence the name “Road Rage”. There are 3 games modes to unlock after a certain amount of cars have been happily driven in, and 3 locations to unlock. The game integrates Open Feint, just like Sentinel 2: Earth Defense, and also features the in-game iPod music playlist selection.

Graphics and artwork are very nicely done. I did think that the main menu was a little messy and all over the place, but in-game artwork is adequately done. It certainly is very different from their previous games, and takes on a whole new style. While the Sentinel series were a bit more serious, this game has a comical sense to it and is a bit more “light” if you know what I’m saying.

All in all, Car Mania offers some nice polished fun for fans of the genre. If you enjoyed Flight Control and Harbor Master, you will probably love the different twists this game brings. I can’t say that it is the most addictive, but I can say that this is definitely one of the games that is worth a look. Open Feint works very nicely in this game, including highscores for every game mode and map, achievements, and friends. Origin8 has delivered above my expectations, and Car Mania sits quite comfortably on my iPhone next to the other variations. Airplanes, boats, now cars. What’s next?

The price is $0.99, and the creators are Origin8.