Smash Cops (iOS) and Little Racers STREET (XBL Indie)

Do you remember Micro Machines on the NES? Top-down 2D racing with neat, inventive tracks - it was a ton of fun. That type of top-down driving probably took it’s next evolution in the original Grand Theft Auto on the PC which added a city and traffic rather than just a race-track.

I bring up those two titles because over the past few days I’ve been playing two games that definitely channel those two classic titles; Smash Cops on the iOS and Little Racers STREET on the Xbox Live Indie channel.

I downloaded Smash Cops for $2.99 on iOS after seeing screenshots on the iTunes storefront. As you can see from the screenshots it looks like a really nice high-res version of the original Grand Theft Auto and the game’s title pretty much describes what you do in the game; you’re a cop and to stop fleeing suspects you have to smash them with your car, Chase HQ-style. There are 22 missions/levels that are divided into three basic types; pursuit levels where you have to chase down a suspect (or several) and smash their car to bits to stop them, time-trial levels which are basically check point races against the clock, and other time-trial style races where you have to navigate obstacles (cones or traffic on the highway) within a certain time. The pursuit races are obviously the most fun and the further you get into the game the more hits opposing cars require before they stop. At the end of each mission you’re given a grade out of five stars depending upon how quickly you took down suspects, how much damage you suffered and how much damage you caused. You then use the stars you’ve earned to unlock new levels and also new vehicles. Much like a lot of ‘freemium’ games you can also unlock missions by purchasing them with real-world money (barf).

As I mentioned before, the screenshots are what prompted me to take a closer look and they don’t disappoint, particularly on the iPad. The graphics are crisp, clean with bright vivid colours and the frame-rate is rock solid. The audio is also enjoyable with an 80s TV show-style theme tune.

Even the controls are pretty neat; to get your car moving you basically hold your finger behind the car and that propels it forward, if you move your finger to the left of the car it turns it right and vice-versa. A second touch of the screen triggers your nitro which allows you to launch forward and ‘smash’ other cars. It’s a very simple control scheme but it works very well.

Unfortunately, despite all these great things the game falls flat because of samey mission design and uninspired city layout. I tend not to play iOS games in long stretches but even after a few short play sessions missions in Smash Cops would start to get pretty boring. Compounding things is the fact that the city itself, despite being very pretty, is uninspiring in its planning with mostly a basic grid design largely devoid of jumps, hills, wide highways, winding roads and so forth. It’s a shame because this is a game I really, really want to love but in the end it`s just nearly as good as it should be.

At the other end of the spectrum is Little Racers STREET, an Xbox Live Indie title that is much better than it has any right to be. Developed by Milkstone Studios, a three person Spanish development studio, Little Racers STREET is a top down racing game in the vein of Micro Machines or Pole Position. What instantly grabbed me about this game are the fantastic controls and driving model that are so wonderfully tight and responsive.

There is also a brilliant career mode inspired by Gran Turismo wherein you start with a certain amount of cash, have to buy your first car and then work your way up five different car classes. You win money with each race which can then be used to buy upgrades or brand new cars. There are 30+ different cars based on real-life models and a dozen or so different tracks with various weather effects.

The game is an absolute blast to play and I found myself playing this little indie game despite having half a dozen full price 360 games on backlog. The best part? Little Racers STREET is a dollar! That’s right, it’s just 80 Microsoft Points which makes it a no-brainer. There is a demo available but the demo track has you using higher level cars which are much more difficult to drive without practice and if anything the demo almost put me off the game but at a dollar I took the plunge and am absolutely glad I did. Get this game!

Lavan