When Hutch Games released Smash Bandits (Free) in August of last year, I instantly fell in love. They took the same vehicular smashing gameplay of their previous Smash Cops and put you in the role of the bad guy, outrunning an increasingly aggressive pursuit of police as you aimed to wreak as much havoc and monetary damage as possible. They also rotated the action into a more friendly one-thumbed, portrait orientation that made Smash Bandits an easy go-to option for killing time throughout the day with my iPhone. It was just an astoundingly fun game to play.
Unfortunately, in their pursuit of finding a good balance in the wacky free to play world of mobile gaming, Hutch hit a big snag with Smash Bandits by adding in a game-stopping timer. Though we still enjoyed the game in our review, it was easily my least favorite part about the game, along with most others who played it. Thankfully, they rectified the problem with a subsequent update, keeping the timer element but never stopping the player at any point from actually playing. It was a good compromise, and I’ve continued to enjoy Smash Bandits ever since, especially with cool content updates like the iconic A-Team van.
It’s been a quiet couple of months since the last Smash Bandits content update in December, but Hutch has sent over details of a huge new update that’s hitting this week which will drastically alter the fundamental gameplay of the original release. They’re doing this by adding a new racing mode, which will offer 25 unique racing levels where you’ll square off against three AI opponents. In addition, should you do well in the racing courses, you’ll be able to unlock gold versions of vehicles. Here are a few screens of the new racing mode.
With this change, Smash Bandits will now be known as Smash Bandits Racing, but the racing mode isn’t the only new stuff to look forward to in this update. You’ll still be able to choose to play the normal Smash mode where you outrun the cops for as long as possible, and for those who truly cause a ton of trouble in this mode, there’ll be an intimidating new attack helicopter coming after you at the higher wanted levels. There will also be two new vehicles added, a Hot Rod and a “Big SUV" aka a Hummer.
Finally, Hutch is massively overhauling the free to play model of Smash Bandits Racing. The timer mechanic is being done away with entirely, and IAP prices are being reduces across the board, as well as adding more of the in-game currency per pack. The game will be getting ads, but there will be an option to remove them for $1.99. Overall it sounds like a great update, and I’m looking forward to checking out the new racing content and the evolution of the Smash Bandits formula when the Smash Bandits Racing update hits this Thursday.
