GTS Racing Challenge
from Pazzazz Games & Astraware

Do you remember Atari’s Pole Position from the ‘80’s? Well forget about it. This game blows it (and many other racing games) away. I’ve never seen such smooth animation and hi-rez graphics on a Pocket PC game. The detail is amazing! Pazzazz Games & Astraware has come up with a fantastic game to relieve the stress of a busy work day. Take one of the three cars out on the race courses and have some fun.

You have three types of cars to choose from (in the registered version): Sports, Coupe and Formula racers. Each car has its own characteristics and dynamics. The option screen allows you to change from Automatic, automatic + reverse or manual transmission. There is also a setting for volume and brightness. However the best feature I like is the game speed option. On the fast mode, it’s fast. It can be difficult to control the car when it’s going that fast, but it’s smooth. I set the game to slow and had a much easier time controlling the car. You have 8 locations to choose from to start out. The tracks and skyline graphics are sharp and very clear. The realism of the 3D graphics is astonishing. This game is available for the Pocket PC and for Palm devices. For the Palm, they offer a High Resolution, 256 color and grayscale version. The Pocket PC version requires Pocket PC 2002 & an ARM or XScale processor.

The locations to choose from are: Honolulu, New England, Seattle, New York City, Denver, Chicago, San Francisco, and Nevada. Each location has 4 tracks (one of each of the level settings).

There are several types of races you can do: Single Race, Challenge Cup, Grand Tour, and Championship. In the Single Race mode, you are one of 9 cars racing on the track. Select the location and off you go. I found that the automatic + reverse setting was the best. It makes it nice to back up when you’ve run off the road and into the trees. For more realism, try the manual setting. Use the Up and Down buttons to change gears. The standard buttons are #3 (top right button) for acceleration and #4 (bottom right button) for reverse, along with left and right using the directional pad. The Palm version allows you to use the graffiti area to control the car. You can also choose from Easy, Normal, Hard or Extreme levels. The levels change the type of course. I checked out some of the Extreme levels and whoa… they are tough! The Grand Tour takes you through each of the 32 tracks one at a time. Depending on the level you select, you might have to come in 5th or better to continue. On the Extreme setting, you have to come in 2nd or better.

In the options screen, you can also change visuals (warning arrows, lap timers, mph or k/ph and even the name of your driver. The controls are configurable as well for left or right handed drivers.

Game Features:

• Fully textured track and skyline for unprecedented realism
• Stunning 3D graphics engine
• 4 levels of difficulty, each with their own track layouts
• Race across 8 exciting venues
• Travel at blistering speeds in the Sports car, Coupe and Formula (Coupe and Formula cars in Registered version only)
• Total of 32 different tracks available to race on
• Hi-Rez, 256 color and 16 shade grayscale versions available for Palm
• Razor sharp control using your choice of buttons (or the Graffiti® area for Palm)
• Four thrilling game modes, including Championship and arcade-style Challenge Cup (Registered only)
• Free camera and car movement - power slide round corners, spin around and drive the wrong way or even just 'doughnut' on the spot if you want!

My final thoughts and comments about the game is simple: if you like racing games, give this one a try. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. The game offers so many options and different tracks, it’s not something you’ll easily get bored with. My daughters have tried the game and like the slower setting. I like to set it to fast and try some crazy moves with the car. You can go wild. The only thing you can’t do it drive across the grass and mow down the trees.

Pros:

• Only takes up 1.1 meg of RAM / Storage card space
• Smooth animation and detailed 3D graphics
• Many options and courses available
• Automatic save game feature (if you close the game by clicking the X, it will automatically save the same for you to continue where you left off)

Cons:

• Gives me a sore thumb… but I should expect that after playing for an hour.

Honestly, I couldn’t come up with any Cons about this game. I can’t find anything wrong with it. It works flawlessly and it’s a beautiful piece of programming. I have to give credit to Andy Wilton for his programming skills. The only option I would consider adding would be a button setting to quickly mute the sound. You can touch the screen and go to the options to turn down the sound, but something quicker would be nice. The sounds are realistic enough to drive you nuts after a while (but only if you’re not the one playing the game).

Download a trial version of the game today. You’ll be able to test out the game and make sure you’ve got what it takes. Make sure your thumb is rested and ready for action. I recommend going to the settings menu and changing the game speed to slow for starters. If you don’t, you might get frustrated and not play the game again. The game sells for $17.95 and it’s well worth it.

Game tested on a Compaq iPAQ 3955 with 256MB SD card.
Special thanks for John Phillips at Astraware for sending me a full version of the game to review.

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