Lite Version: FREE
Hit the slopes with Alpine Racer! One of Namco's newest additions to the App Store, and quite a good one at that! Begin the game playing as one of two siblings, one snowboards and one skis, but they both want to be King of the Mountain! Touch or tilt controls topped off with great 3-D graphics makes Alpine Racer a great contender in the App Store. Keep reading for more details!
Alpine Racer is easily up there on my list of top rated games. I can't ski or snowboard in real life, so this game is a GREAT alternative if you want to hit the slopes without the broken bones or bruises. With 3-D graphics and tilt controls it's almost as if you are the one flying down that hill and jumping off ramps.
You begin the game playing either a snowboarder, or a skier. Either way they are both competing to be King of the Mountain. Story mode will have you racing in a series of events to eventually become the winner. Don't expect to be entertained for hours however. The first race is simply you, sort of like a time trial deal. Second race you face off against whichever character you didn't pick to play, and the final race, is against your father! That's right! Que the dramatic music. If you read into the story line you will notice that the characters are brother and sister, and that their father disappeared years ago. He reappears to face off in the final race against his own blood. Beat him however and you will unlock him for your own personal use. That is about the extent of the story mode. Three races for each character and it's all over with. Not much of a competition if there are only three races to be champion, but what do I know about ski competitions? Nothing.
After each race depending on how well you do time wise, you will be given the opportunity to add some more speed and style to your character. You are given the option to add points to Max Speed, Acceleration, Style, and Power. Each has their own importance and shouldn't be ignored. Once you have beaten the game with all the characters you can try time trials. Race against yourself (a ghost) and try to beat your best time.
As I have said before, graphics in this game are fantastic! Controls are simple, too. You have two options when it comes to controlling your racer. First, you can use tilt controls, I like to take advantage of the iPhone's accelerometer as much as possible, but unfortunately I noticed that if you use tilt controls and are trying to take a sharp corner, you end up tilting the phone away from your immediate eyesight, which turns into you slamming into a wall or tree because you couldn't react fast enough. Your second option for control is touch, this option is much simpler and using it I was able to cut quite a bit of time off my records. When the race begins simply touch anywhere on the screen and a sort of D-pad will appear. Slide your finger left to turn left, slide your finger right and you will turn right, slide your finger up and your racer will squat down to try to pick up speed on that straightaway. Touch controls were much easier for me, but to each their own, that's why there are two options!
As far as complaints go, I have few. Great graphics, easy controls, unlockable characters and outfits, all of these combined make Alpine Racer a great game. If I had to whine about something though, I guess it would be the shortness of it all. More than three races for the tournament would be fantastic. More characters, and more tracks are always something people want. What I would really like to see though, is the ability to make your own custom character. I am all for a storyline in a game, but it has to be an RPG. Final Fantasy, Legend of Legaia, and Earthbound are games that need a plot and I am glad they have them. I appreciate the work that Namco put into the storyline behind Alpine Racer. They did well meshing the characters together, but I think it would be much more entertaining if I could make my own awesome snowboarder with a black beanie and goatee flying down the slopes of a 10-20 race tournament. Maybe these are features we will see in a future update? Until then I am going to continue to try to beat my times and get each character maxed out on skills. You never know what hidden thing there is to unlock in games anymore!
Download Alpine Racer for $5.99 HERE.
Download Alpine Racer LITE for FREE HERE.
If you have any questions about this game, or already have it and want to let us know what you think, please leave a comment below! We always love to hear from our readers!
Rating: 4/5 Stars
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