Streetbike: Full Blast

The app world is filled with different games, from puzzles to RPG. Racing games have always been a popular virtual sport and are prominent in the app world. Streetbike: Full Blast published by Chillingo and made by Turtles Entertainment is a motorcycle racing game taking you to unbelievable speeds in different city streets, but there is a significant problem: the controls are very difficult to master due to their poor design and responsiveness.

My familiarity with racing games...  Read More

The app world is filled with different games, from puzzles to RPG. Racing games have always been a popular virtual sport and are prominent in the app world. Streetbike: Full Blast published by Chillingo and made by Turtles Entertainment is a motorcycle racing game taking you to unbelievable speeds in different city streets, but there is a significant problem: the controls are very difficult to master due to their poor design and responsiveness.

My familiarity with racing games is not exactly strong, but after playing Streetbike: Full Blast, I knew much better racing games were out there. With difficult maneuvering, slow acceleration, poor graphics and boring challenges Streetbike falls short, especially coming from well-respected publisher Chillingo.

The controls are tilt-based, which seems to be growing in popularity for new games, but only a few are successful. For Streetbike: Full Blast, the tilt was too sensitive, even when I lowered it down in the options section. When the curves came along, my motorcyclist either hit the wall or made extremely wide turns, losing its place in the game.

For a successful turn, timing was key but a little stressful. Changing the controls to touch screen was even worse, for they consisted of two arrows, one right and one left. In order to keep the motorcycle steady, I had to constantly press both arrows. To make matters worse the controls were on one side, making the game feel a little awkward.

The graphics for Streetbike: Full Blast are low quality. The skyscrapers and trees looked 3D from afar but as I got closer they had a very 2D effect, making the scene look less realistic and unappealing. The only decent graphics were of the motorcyclist, even though he seemed a little boxy as well. The game almost reminds me of arcade racing games from the early 2000’s or late 90’s, but I’m not sure if Turtles Entertainment intended to go that direction. The cars occupying the street are hard to see from afar, yet look very stretched out once you are in close proximity. The graphics definitely need some more work.

The three challenges of the game are as follows: collecting money, placing in the top three, and beating the clock. Of course a racing game is not supposed to be complicated, but with the weak maneuvering and speed I expected exciting challenges to compensate.

An upside to Streebike: Full Blast is the beginner stage, which was fairly easy. However the more advanced stages were difficult to enjoy with all the issues explained above. This racing game is not up there with other apps, but at least it has the potential to improve.  Close

Posted February 20, 2012