'Boost 3D' Delivers Solid Tunnel Madness
posted by Blake Patterson on October 15th, 2009 11:22 AM EDT in $1.99, 4.5 stars, Racing, Reviews, iPhone games, iPod touch gamesJonathan Lanis has recently contributed a simple and fun bit of 3D obstacle-dodging tunnel madness to the App Store in the form of Boost 3D [link].
Boost 3D is about tunnels, and it's a rather simple affair. You start out racing down the inside of an obstacle-laden tunnel and, before you know it, you're racing down the outside of an obstacle-laden tunnel, tilting left and right, trying to keep from careening into varying arrangements of colorful blocks. There are boost pads that lend speed to your travel, as well as granting the ability to crash through an obstacle. Granted, it sounds pretty same-old, same-old — I mean, there're plenty of hurtle-down-a-tunnel games in the App Store — but somehow, Boost 3D stands above the pack. It has a certain stylized, simple charm that makes it feel unique. Not to mention the glass-smooth framerate.
That said, it could be more of a game. You start down the tunnel, racking up points the further you go. The track and obstacles change along the way, but it's a one-shot run. I think the addition of end goals and levelling would add significantly to the game. But, still, among the iPhone tunnel games, Boost 3D is king, or close to the same. It's genuinely hard to put down.
See the developer's gameplay video, which is silent, unlike the game.
App Store Link: Boost 3D, $1.99
TouchArcade Rating:
Fantastic game!
It's really hard to put down!
Thanks to TA for the article.
Hi,
I was a beta tester of this game and i can say it's really addictive ! There are nice graphics, music and gameplay
Oh man, I wish I could remember all the games this reminds me of…
can someone fill me in? There was this sweet japanese freeware space tunnel shooter exactly like this.
You mean "Torus Trooper"?
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~cs8k-cyu/windows/tt_e.html
This may not be the one, but if you like this genre, give it a try!
Torus Trooper is GREAT. There's actually a competent ripoff of it on the App Store called Vektrax, I think it was covered on Touch Arcade before?
"I think the addition of end goals and levelling would add significantly to the game."
Yeah, thaat would be great
i wish this was synced with music like audiosurf!
There's another video of this game with sound youtube, but the quality isn't all that great. You do get to see some level variation though, since the track layouts are random.
Not totally random… all of the levels start inside a complete tunnel, then it opens out onto a flat plane, then a tube on which you can go completely around the outside, then back past a flat plane into a tunnel again.
As for the objects you avoid, there are certain patterns to that too, the second tunnel you enter always has a section with free floating blocks. Their placements are always different, but you always know they're coming.
yep. that 3GS problem that is mentioned in appstore happened to me while playing, some frame dropping and collision.. I dunno.. but the author said he'll fix it.
nevertheless it's a nice game. I really like these sort of "creative" apps, you know.. the ones that look different than the others. I mean I'm a designer so I guess it's because I like to look at nicely done graphics.
Overall it's a nice game, I'll need to wait for the update to resolve this frame dropping issue.
Someone needs to port the Atari classic S.T.U.N. Runner!
If the Atari Lynx can handle it, the iPhone must be up to the task, right?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhUAh-XqrxQ
I bought it- pure awesome. Expertly engineered with regards to the tilt precision, collision response, graphics, and frame rate. Creatively designed with the music and art forming a cool, polished style. I didn't think iPhone/iPod Touch games could be this neat. And fun.
It's well worth the $2. I love this game, my wife loves this game. The only downside to be aware of is that if you only have one iPod Touch, this game can cause conflict in your marriage.
This is like Tunnel Vision, which i think is probably better with a bit more variety and uses your finger to move around instead of tilting.
I find this game better than tunnel vision
Just a FYI, the newer version 1.1 that just came out makes the game slower. As in the difficulty is dumbed down. Much easier to get higher scores. I do not care for this dumbed down slower feature the author has put into this update(without mention). So if you like how it plays now, DO NOT download the update.
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Update:
I contacted the Author of this game and he said that this slow down seems to be relevant only on the 3G ITouch(which is what I have). He has submitted a patch that should hopefully fix it as the slow down was not intentional.
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Since updating to v1.1 on my 3GS the speed this game plays makes it nearly impossible to play, just hoping the developer will sort this as i need my boost fix
actually, that was the intended speed. the previous update slowed/crippled it unintentionally.
arn
jeez I gotta get this game – I love the simple games! And those tunnel graphics look pretty good too