Slingshot Racing Review

Slingshot Racing sure made me appreciate how much gaming you can accomplish with a simple tap of the screen. The frustrations it adds can be even greater than a console game with full controls, and that may be part of the fun/challenge depending on how you see it.

This top down racing game has but one control -- tap the screen to shoot rope at the slingshots and hook your car around corners. How close you corner and what angle you take will determine how fast you go and how straight you stay on course. Sounds simple, right? One control, how hard can it be? Well, that is where the nuance of a single tap can drive you crazy.

Man, I was lamenting the loss of an accelerator button and steering wheel/direction pad. You can get into a rhythm of timing your slingshots so you stay on course, but every time you take an edge too wide and slow down, it’s an eternity waiting for a chance to speed back up again. Then when you crash into a wall ... well, wouldn’t it be great to just have steering to avoid such disasters?

There are power-ups on the course. You can hit speed ramps to give yourself a boost. But then so can the other cars, so your only hope is really to sling your car at exactly the right moment AND hit the speed ramp like everyone else.

The game includes a few different types of races. There is the old fashioned race for first place against other cars. These races often go through pileups when they’re close. There are time trials. There are courses where you have to collect icons, which is great if you get them all in one pass but infuriating if you have to circle around and around for that last one. The toughest I encountered was the chomper that will eat the last place car.

Each of those types of races has a one to three star achievement (one to three gears in this case). You can clear boards and unlock new levels and courses with one, and some may get under your skin until you get all three gears.

The graphics are gorgeous. It really reminded me of the classic Super Off Road type games in feel, and the old RC Pro Am in layout. The different seasons and textures of race tracks were really stunning. The music was a bit grating, sort of an unpleasant electronica. I turned the sound off.

Slingshot Racing has plenty of different races, objectives and achievements for infinite playing. It may depend how sensitive you are. I got too frustrated to play for too long, but I couldn’t deny a feeling of satisfaction when I hit that right slingshot groove.

App Store Link: Slingshot Racing for iPhone & iPad | By Crescent Moon Games | Price: $0.99 | Version: 1.1 | 45.2 MB | Rating 4+