Starbyte has released their second iPhone game to the app store: Black Mamba Racer [App Store]
Black Mamba Racer is a $3.99 2D overhead racer in which you skid and slide your way around 25 racing mission across 9 different tracks. While the graphics may look primitive, the gameplay is surprisingly fun and challenging.
The premise of the game is that you are challenging the “Black Mamba" to a race, but in order to take her on, you have to complete 25 missions against the clock and her drones. Your car can take damage if you hit a wall so you need to take care to avoid those. If your car health drops to 0%, you’ve automatically lost the mission.
The game offers touch-screen controls which work surprisingly well. My brief attempt at using the accelerometer controls failed miserably, and the documentation even hints you should avoid it.
The first few missions are relatively easy but seems to ramp up quickly (I’m stuck at mission 5). Shown in the video are the 2nd and 3rd missions. The 2nd mission involves just beating 3 of the drones in a 4 lap race. The 3rd mission requires you to complete a lap within a certain amount of time (You’ll notice that I wasn’t aware of this when I recorded this video, so I just meander my way to failure).
While I’ve not gotten very far, I already consider this game is a success. What it lacks in flashy graphics, it makes up for in basic gameplay, which is a refreshing twist.
My main feature request would be a global lap time ranking. While you have your own best lap times for each level, a global list would add an enormous amount of replay-ability over time.
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Update: The developer video shows more advanced driving, higher levels and obstacles.
