When Table Top Racing [$2.99] hit the new release charts last week, we were pretty stoked not just by the pedigree surrounding the developers, but also its interesting graphical theme. Now that we've had some time to check it out, it's obvious that Table Top's environments and overall visual flair are pretty top notch. Unfortunately, a relatively generic gameplay outing and its emphasis on auto-acceleration controls keep the game from reaching loftier heights.

The first thing you'll notice with Table Top Racing is its unique visual style. Taking a page from classics such as Micro Machines, Table Top has you racing across giant tables filled with every day items. For example, one theme has you on an Asian-themed restaurant table while another might put you in a Hawaiian luau setting. Not everything is food themed, as others simply place you in a kid's room with wooden blocks setting up the racetrack. Maps are nicely done, inventive (at least for iOS) and look great.

In addition to the fun theme, Table Top also excels in simply executing the basics. The graphics simply look great, with the behind-the-back camera angle doing a great job showcasing the visuals. The game even does a great job of making even the static backdrops come alive as you race around the level. Meanwhile, Table Top runs at an incredibly smooth frame rate, a must for frenetic racing games. Finally, I'm also a fan of the music, even if some of the tunes are heavily "inspired" takes on familiar songs.

Otherwise, Table Top Racing is relatively straight-forward from a gameplay perspective. A robust campaign mode challenges racers to participate in a variety of cups that have players taking part in a variety of races that eventually lead to the proper cup. Race objectives range from standard fare (time trials and place matches) to objective (run into your opponent a set time has elapsed) to the dynamic (such as elimination matches). Hitting objectives or placing high enough earns coins that can be used to purchase and outfit your vehicles, which give you a better chance to succeed. Single race modes and multiplayer round out the selections. While there's a lot to see and do in Table Top Racing, the game doesn't really offer much in terms of innovation.

Controls-wise, Table Top offers the choice of tilt-based controls or a simple left/right button scheme with both options using auto acceleration (and no brakes). Auto-acceleration seems to be the control scheme of choice these days for iOS racing titles and while I think the controls work decently, there's still a certain amount of control lost that can be frustrating. It would have been nice to simply offer it as an alternative, even if it's not the "preferred" way to play.

Meanwhile, there's a few facets of the game that don't feel right. Players aren't allowed to upgrade their vehicles in their own way; each vehicle has a set upgrade path and you'll be spending coin on the next upgrade. If you don't like the attribute it's improving, all you can hope for is that the next stat in the queue is your choice. For that matter, the tuning in regards to earning coins, upgrades, and being able to advance in the campaign is a little too heavy on the coins, offering too much of an emphasis on IAPs.

In the crowded iOS racing genre, there's a growing collection of decent racing titles that either focus on killer visuals or innovative gameplay (with the best succeeding in both). Table Top Racing falls in the former category with a fun visual style that does a good job eliciting feelings of nostalgia. Whether that's enough to differentiate itself from the pack is a matter of opinion, but as far as racing titles go you can do a lot worse.

Earlier this afternoon, Eli and I sat down with Table Top Racing [$2.99]. If the name didn't clue you in, it's a top down racer that puts you behind the wheel of a miniature car across a variety of real-world environments. With these kinds of racers the world is what ends up feeling kinda surreal, which is an interesting thing since it's not, you know, possible to drive a toy car. You'd figure it'd be the other way around.

The production elements in this is are super sharp and there's a ton of different modes and cars and upgrades to play around with as you race. But -- and this is kind of a big but -- the game isn't clicking with us. There's something it's missing.

All the same, if you're dying for a racing game, this might be something you'll want to give a shot. Video below:

If you're pumped for Real Racing 3, check out the video we've embedded below. In it, the folks behind the racing game detail the game's time-shifted multiplayer component, which is an interesting asynchronous spin on the standard "Ghost" mode. In brief, time-shifted multiplayer fills every event you compete in with your friends' ghosts. Then, it puts an AI that behaves like your friends behind those ghosts, making matches a bit more dynamic than they would be otherwise.

It also lets you play against people who might have posted their best score weeks ago, and it'll blast out push notifications if someone crushes your time. Neat, right?

Real Racing 3 is scheduled to hit later this month.

If you've been following Polarbit throughout the years, you know the developer has a penchant for racing titles. Whether its with top-down arcade titles such as Reckless Racing 2, water races such as Wave Blazer or Rush-esque titles such as Raging Thunder 2, vehicular gameplay seems to be in their blood. Enter Cracking Sands [$1.99], the latest racing title from Polarbit. While the racer features an impressive customization system, and a wealth of maps and cups, Cracking Sands falters a bit with its frustrating control scheme and increasingly hectic weapons-based gameplay.

As far as kart racers go, Cracking Sands doesn't do much to mix up the core gameplay. An extensive campaign is initially available, which has players participating in cups, racing through maps that award points and cash (and earning final rankings based on total points against other computer opponents) which can be used towards upgrading vehicles and weapons. Completing the campaign opens up other game modes, including single races, time trials, and more. In between standard races, Cracking Sands also throws two other game modes at you: Elimination (where the game systematically removes the racer in last place until one is left standing) and Head of the Pack (which awards points to the racer in first place for a certain amount of time). Multiplayer rounds out a decent amount of variety in Cracking Sands.

The actual racing, meanwhile, is pretty standard fare, with players balancing trying to earn first place while dodging (and launching) a variety of weapons at other racers. Weapons are powered by an energy system that is replenished during races by collecting energy cubes, running over energy pads, or by taking advantage of situations with temporary unlimited energy. Initially, racing in Cracking Sands is a bit slow and bland as your kart has little in terms of weapons and upgrades, but as you earn more coins (which flow freely if you get a few first places), the game picks up a little.

The area that Cracking Sands excels the most is in the sheer amount of variety and customization for players. The campaign is pretty huge, with tons of unlockable cups, each featuring a decent amount of map environments. Meanwhile, players have a wealth of options in customizing your racer's clothes, facial features, and vehicle. Each vehicle also has its own upgrade paths, further providing players an opportunity to tailor and improve their vehicles. This wealth of customization extends to the weapon options, with tons of different choices, each with the ability to be upgraded several times.

Where I have an issue with Cracking Sands, however, is its use of tilt-based controls. The game forces players to use the accelerometer to steer, which can feel imprecise and frustrating at times. This becomes especially apparent in later races which feature complicated maps with quick (and sometimes hard to distinguish) turns. There are options to adjust the tilt sensitivity, but I really would have preferred some virtual buttons instead.

As if the controls weren't bad enough, the Weapons-based gameplay can lead to a lot of highly frenetic action on screen. In fact, at times there were so many weapons effects going off on screen that I even encountered some slow-down on my iPhone 5. There's also the fact that you'll encounter situations where you get railed by so many weapons by other CPU racers that you can instantly go from first to last place. It's frustrating and feels cheap, but then again this isn't the first time kart racers have done this (remember the plethora of blue shells in Mario Kart whenever you got in first place?).

In the end, Cracking Sands ends up being a title recommended to racing fans that are looking for a title with a wealth of content. That's pretty much all it has going for it as the visuals aren't particularly inspiring, the controls aren't as precise as I'd like, the weapons-based gameplay, while fun, can easily become too hectic. It sounds like a lot of cons, but games that have the ability to afford players a lot to do and see are worth noting. If you're a genre fan looking for that, check out Cracking Sands. For everyone else, there are better races out there.

SlotZ Racer 2, an upcoming follow-up to an old favorite of ours, is hitting this coming Thursday on the App Store as a free download. With that zero dollar purchase, you'll be able to get behind the wheels of several different vehicles, race across 31 tracks, and play with the game's track editor. Via IAP, you'll also be able to grab a few more cars and unlock the game's "Car Editor" and "Pro Tune" features to customize your stuff.

In case you wanted to know, Freeverse, the publisher of the original SlotZ game, does not have a hand in this one. As pointed out in this game's press release, SlotZ Racer 2 is being self-published by Strange Flavour. But there's still a little something extra being packaged in this game for original SlotZ owners.

Players with the original SlotZ Racer on their iOS device get a special bonus! If SlotZ Racer 2 detects the original version of the game, among other things, a unique car is unlocked, just for being brilliant.

That's neat, right? We'll get our hands all over this in the coming days, so stay tuned for some impressions. In the meantime, check out this video of the game:

This past November, Cubed Rally Racer [$0.99 / $1.99 (HD)] developer Nocanwin released a long-awaited follow-up title called Cubed Rally Redline [Free]. It traded in the traditional driving mechanics of its forebear for a more streamlined auto-runner type of setup, while still keeping the same awesome retro-inspired look and fantastic chiptune soundtrack.

Cubed Rally Redline turned out to be a pretty fun little arcade game, one that we rather enjoyed in our review. Right now, for no real reason other than just for the heck of it, you can pick up Cubed Rally Redline for free.

If you need another look at Cubed Rally Redline then be sure to check out our TA Plays video of the game embedded above. Also, since our original review, a big update hit that added a sweet new Rally Mode as a 99¢ IAP that came with 20 distinctive levels to race through in addition to the main endless mode. It's all a lot of fun, so don't hesitate to download Cubed Rally Redline while it's free until this Sunday.

As mobile hardware reaches the point of being comparable to consoles, we're seeing less and less "Game Boy" versions of popular gaming franchises. That is, it's no longer becoming necessary to dumb down or limit a version of a console or PC game just to create a mobile version. In fact we've seen plenty of straight up ports of console and PC games that sacrifice very little technically in order to work on the iOS platform.

That's all well and good, and I love taking carrying games like GTA: Vice City [$4.99] and Bastion [$0.99] around in my pocket wherever I go, but there's almost always some sort of compromise you'll need to be willing to deal with when shoehorning virtual controls onto a game that wasn't meant for it. I'm fine with that for the most part, but it also makes me really appreciate those games that try to reinvent themselves with touchscreens in mind when transitioning to iOS.

One of the more recent and excellent examples of doing just that is Ubisoft's Rayman Jungle Run [$2.99]. It took the assets of Rayman Origins, a fantastic and critically acclaimed platforming game on traditional gaming systems, and repurposed them into an auto-running platformer built specifically for mobile touchscreen devices. We thought it was a hit because of how thoughtfully it was brought to iOS, and I'm pretty sure Apple liked it too. It definitely makes a difference when something is tailored for mobile.

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Let's clear the air: clean lines and futuristic stylings aside, Pixelbite Games' Repulze [$2.99] shares little in common with Wipeout. One is an iOS racer that costs less than a dollar, the other is one of Sony's most popular and enduring racing franchises. That's not to discount Repulze, though -- it's from the same team that developed the excellent Reckless Racing 2 [$1.99]. Whereas RR2 included drifting mechanics and a dynamic difficulty system, Repulze is comparatively stripped down: it only does one thing, but it does it really well.

The game's most obvious feature is its visual design. The tracks and hovercraft all fit squarely in sci-fi's artistic wheelhouse, but the vibrant colors and sharp lines look nice on a big iPad screen. One of my favorite hovercraft, for example, is the Yugana SB-23, the one that looks most like a podracer from The Phantom Menace. I like the way it handles, of course, but I also like the the way its hydraulics pulse up and down as I bank left and right. Each vehicle is full of small visual touches that set it apart from the rest, and Pixelbite's attention to detail permeates the entire game. Even the menus look nice.

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Earlier this morning, Jared I spent some time with Repulze [$2.99]. It's a sci-fi racing game that tasks you with completing time trials across six different tracks. There's also a polarity mechanic thrown in for good measure. Bash through three red or green barriers in a row, and you'll be awarded with speed boosts, which can improve your times.

We've seen a lot of racers like this -- you know, the hover-y kind of racers packed with outlandish track design and neat sci-fi locales -- but, we're digging Repulze. It has a great sense of speed and the vehicles all have a neat, mostly unique, feel to them. Give it a look if you're interested:

One of the more interesting things we've been observing on the App Store over the last three or so months is the rise of endless racing games. Built like runners, these games have you driving cars with questionable suspensions across craggy levels. The goal is to drive as far as possible before crashing. The longer you travel (and the more tricks and jumps you can pull off along the way), the higher your score.

We're not 100 percent sure why these are hot, but our guts say the upgrade models have a big hand in it. The best endless racing games have in-game currencies. As you drive, you pick up coins that can be used to upgrade components of cars and buy newer, faster ones. As Call of Duty continues to prove, the click-treat that comes with upgrading and unlocking is powerful stuff.

When something gets hot on the App Store, whether it's a genre, style of game, or even an IP, you see a lot of knock-offs. We've certainly spotted a couple of terrible cash-in endless hill racing games. Our best hill climbing list ignores these and celebrates some of the originality we've seen in this fledgling space.

Extreme Road Trip 2, Free - [Forum Thread] - [ TA Plays ] - Extreme Roadtrip 2 was the game we feel like started it all. It's still the strongest of the hill racing games we've encountered so far. Great visuals coupled with superb sounds and reliable physics make this a blast to play. Plus, the fun upgrade paths and unlocks keep you coming back for more.

Earn to Die, $0.99 - [Forum Thread] - [ TA Plays ] - It's the post-apocalypse and you only have a shred of gas to escape from the incoming horde. In Earn to Die, your goal is to slowly build up a collection of cars that can get you out of a bad situation -- and into, sometimes, worse ones. The premise of this one goes a long way in making the hill climbing action click.

I Hate Zombiesâ„¢, Free - [Forum Thread] - [ TA Plays ] - At first glance, this seems like a pretty mundane hill climbing game, but after playing for a bit, you'll appreciate just how solidly constructed it is. The physics are wonderful, the car selection is ridiculously robust and the addition of a jump mechanic certainly sprinkles some extra flavor into the experience.

MotoHeroz, $0.99 - [Review] - [Forum Thread] - The makers of Trials HD on consoles wanted to bring a similar experience to mobile without just rehashing the same old thing. The result was Motoheroz, a game with a fantastic look and devilishly designed levels. Just completing each one is a challenge on its own, but throw in time-trial, hidden items, and a 3-medal scoring system and Motoheroz is a game you can spend a ton of time with.

Earlier this morning, Eli and I gave I Hate Zombies a spin. It's another one of those weird endless racing games where you're tasked with going as far as you can in a super charged car. Of, course, there's plenty of hills to climb along the way and ramps that you'll need to hit. A run ends when you crash your car.

There's also a coin system. The longer the distance you cover, the more coins you'll be able to earn. With these, you can buy boosters as well as new cars. We bought a van with a skull on the side of it for the purposes of our play session.

This is one of the better endless racing games on the market, as the physics aren't as broken as they are in other games. We're not so sure what's up with the zombie stuff in this, but hey, there's zombies in this game, if you're into that. Check it out:

Heads up: Real Racing 2 HD [$6.99 (HD)] is on sale ... again. Starting now, you can grab the title at $1.99 instead of its usual $6.99. This is a pretty deep price cut for a simulation-based racing game that, mechanically and visually, still holds up despite its age.

If you're holding out for the iPhone version's sale, you missed the boat. It got marked down last week and recently just shot up to its regular price. The good news is that one of these versions seems to go on sale every other week, so if you keep your eyes peeled, you'll probably catch the next one.

Real Racing 3, the next game in the franchise, is due out at some point this year. And, man, does it look absolutely fantastic. Check it out if you haven't.

Considering how cramped the endless genre feels on iOS, new entries have to try pretty hard to distinguish themselves from the pack. Some titles try to wow with unique art styles, while others focus on improving the actual gameplay experience (while the best games accomplish both). Chillingo's Endless Road [Free] squarely falls in the former, with a great visual presentation that certainly feels unique. However, a relatively basic gameplay experience coupled with a somewhat onerous IAP scheme may leave players wanting more.

As far as endless runners go, Endless Road doesn't deviate much from the norm. Players drive their vehicle across a three-lane highway with the goal of getting as far as possible in a single run. Meanwhile, vehicles and barriers (such as pits, walls and so on) litter the lanes, requiring you to maneuver between the lanes avoiding traffic. Coins can also be collected during a run, allowing players to purchase new vehicles, color schemes, and power-up in an in-game shop. Each run is comprised of 'stages' which give players the opportunity to choose which routes to go to at the end of each, which is a neat way of adding some player choice in an otherwise random setting.

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Earlier this morning, Jared and I spent some time with Endless Road [Free]. It's another one of those endless car games that seem to be all the rage these days, but it has a few neat twists that help it stand out. Specifically, it's lane-based and played from a top-down perspective. Also, it has a hip visual style that's something of a cross between Limbo and Mirror's Edge. You'll know what we're talking about when you see it.

Endless Road tasks you with driving as far and as fast as possible from a crumbling, monochrome city. As you drive, you'll need to avoid traffic and spots of road that'll slow your car down. Along the way, you'll pick up various power-ups that'll help you clear out other vehicles or even give you a boost.

We're down with what Endless Road has to offer. Check it out:

Gameloft's Asphalt series of racing games have come a long, long way since their humble beginnings on mobile phones, the ill-fated N-Gage, and Nintendo DS almost a decade ago. The latest in the series, Asphalt 7: Heat [$0.99], was released over the summer and was easily the most impressive iteration yet, offering a full-blown arcade racer wrapped up in an incredibly shiny package.

Currently you can grab Asphalt 7 for the very agreeable price of free. Now, the game has always been just 99¢ anyway, which is incredibly cheap for such a full-featured title. This probably has something to do with the amount of IAP in the game: there's a lot of it. It's not the bad kind though, just the kind that asks you to play a whole lot in order to earn enough in-game currency to buy all the various cars and upgrades. The "buy some IAP if you're impatient" kind, if you will.

Still, removing the barrier of entry will likely be a good way to get people to check out Asphalt 7 if they were on the fence before. I mean, why not? All you've got to lose is time, and admittedly it is a huge download at over 1GB. If you're a racing game fan then you'll definitely want to check it out, as although they're different in many ways, it compares favorably to EA's Need For Speed Most Wanted [$4.99], which came out just last month and also seems to be vying for the spot of "best iOS racer" in the minds of gamers.

You might need to hurry though, as according to the description Asphalt 7: Heat will only be free for a day.