AAQR: Asphalt 6 HD ($0.99) racing

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Asphalt series is a racer from Gameloft that is their "flagship" franchise, and it's one of those fast and furious type racers where you unlock more and more exotic cars (and motorcycles!) Now at version 6, this game is your pretty typical racer.

Basically, you start with something simple, like a Mini Cooper JCW, and you can buy faster vehicles by winnings (about 40K to 60K per race if you win). There's of course, nitro. You pick up nitro on the course, or you can "drift" and that'll get you some nitro too.

Nitro is essential in winning any sort of race. You can also shove other cars into the wall, which will also get you some bonus $$$. If you manage to fill your nitro gauge, you can engage "adrenaline mode", where your car goes hyperfast, as well as be virtually invincible. (And yes, you CAN crash in this game). Asphalt series lets you use up to 3 charges of nitro at the same time (different flames out of the exhaust pipes, and increased speed). There's also specials about getting extra amount of air, extra money and so on.

Each race is considered "won" if you place in the top three, where you're awarded 3 stars for 1st, 2 stars for 2nd, and 1 star for 3rd. Each race also has two bonus objectives, such as knock-down 4 cars, drift 1000 meters, don't crash more than twice, and so on. Each objective is worth another star, for a maximum of 5 stars.

Race types are varied. There's regular race, knock down (crash as many other cars as possible, without being crashed yourself), elimination (don't be last!), drift competition, and so on.

Items are unlocked according to how many stars you got. Every 5 to 10 stars unlocks additional vehicles, "tuning kits" for increased performance, and so on.

The game's graphics is quite good, almost like playing one of the Need for Speed games. Handling is primitive, but that's expected on a phone. Getting the vehicle to drift is difficult though, at least in certain configs. And you need drifting in some corners to achieve optimum speed.

The most "annoying" part about the game is the ability to BUY the upgrades... If you want to buy stars to unlock better vehicles... you can. If you want to BUY ability to unlock upgrades, you can. But that means the game is no longer just 99 cents.

And that's slightly deceptive.

Still, the game's not bad, good for short excursions. For $1, it's a good deal.

http://www.appbrain.com/app/asphalt-6:-adrenaline-hd/com.gameloft.android.ANMP.GloftA6HP