I downloaded Real Racing on my iphone the other day and I’m feeling a bit mixed about it.

Artificial Intelligence
The irony is that the thing that I read that was supposed to be so great about it — the AI — is what is driving me nuts the most. The gist of it is that any time you come into contact with another car, which is EVERY time you want to pass, you get bumped in the rear corner and spin out off of the track. It’s next to impossible to pass in a tight corner without being spun off and dropping off into last place. What’s more frustrating is that the computer cars are rarely on the losing end in collisions no matter who is being the aggressor or who is in front. If I ram someone from behind we either continue on with little consequence to them, or I spin out. If I get past and they bump me… I’m in the grass. This isn’t a good, aggressive AI. It’s a lack of balance.

I don’t know, perhaps the idea is that we’re supposed to learn to deal with it. But one of the great things about driving games is that what you learn in one game generally translates well to other games. The concept of driving a good line around the track or breaking before a turn isn’t particular to Gran Turismo or any other game. I understand this isn’t physics on the same level as Gran Turismo, but it needs to be tempered a little. Frustration isn’t going to keep me coming back for more.

Maps
Don’t racing games have maps? Don’t they NEED maps? This is something that Need For Speed Underground did very well, I think. They don’t show you the whole map, just the next turn or two, constantly moving as you progress. I will give Real Racing this — there are generally a lot of decent markers along the track to prep you for what’s coming up, especially if you understand the red & white markers on the edge of the track (do those things have a name?) But just give us a map? K, great.

Settings
Seriously, do I need to turn the music volume setting down every time I play the game? Settings should be remembered!

Overall
I do like the game a lot. The mechanics of it are sharp, the framerate is good. It sounds stupid, but I like that I don’t have to worry about accelerating and braking. The interface is too small for that. Let me just worry about driving a good line and competing against the other cars. I haven’t gotten far enough for this to be an issue yet, but I’m sure I’m going to want more types of cars later. 8 different versions of the same types of cars is only going to get me so far. I also wish that I could upgrade my cars, or even see stats on the cars I’ve got. Are all hatchbacks equal? I’m going to have to assume so.

I like that this is a career-oriented, simulation type racing game. It’s more my type of thing than something like Need For Speed. Though I have to say EA always puts out nicely polished games, which Real Racing could use a little more of. But that being said, it’s a good game. With a couple of tweaks it could be really solid.