In a nutshell…
Top-down 3D racing with an arcade action flavour.
What’s it good for?
Demonstrating that not only N-Gage games have great production values.
Judgement time…
K-Rally is a top-down racing game that owes a lot to old-school console classics like Micro Machines. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, you see, letting racers shoot each other with rockets or lay mines in order to get ahead.
The idea is to win races by guiding your motor around a series of rally tracks, keeping off the edges, using your turbo boosts on straights and avoiding the attentions of up to three opponents. Simple.
The game awards you experience points for you race position and some of your antics during the race itself (hit an opponent with a rocket and you’ll get five XP as well as causing him to spin off the track). These points can be used to unlock new cars, tracks and game modes, which helps hold your interest for longer than most mobile games: there’s always something to unlock, so there’s always a reason to race.
The graphics are some of the best we’ve seen outside of N-Gage, with crisp 3D backdrops and effects like headlights and rain. Sound is also excellent (although the dire techno background music demands to be switched off within seconds), and the game also uses your mobile’s vibrate function to add some tactile feedback when you crash out or ram another racer.
It all adds up to a slickly produced, fun to play game that’s well worth a look.