Micro Race is a new racing game now available from the OVI Store. As in all other racing games the objective is clearly to win the race (or be among the top three). The install size of this game is around 5.5 Mb whereas the file itself is around 5 Mb. Once the game starts you have the main menu which consist of various options in which most are quite obvious.
Options are where you can configure buttons and sounds and these are split into three groups. General lets you set the sound and toggle auto-forward on or off. Control, lets you set which buttons to steer your vehicle and use the bonus item. Languages, lets you choose between major languages such as English, French, Italian, Spanish and German but also from languages such as Russian, Swedish and Finnish totaling 9 languages you can choose from. Configuring the options is quite straight forward and on the N97 most of the keyboard buttons can be assigned.
Choosing the quickrace takes you right into action and you have the choice of selecting between7 different cars, so you’ll be able to find one that you find good looking. To see the other cards you use the arrows.
After having selected your vehicle it’s quite given that you have to select the place you want to race in. The game offers you a total of 8 different stages, but only two are unlocked at initial. At the buttom you can toggle the difficulty of the game. (Being a newbie I chose the easy difficulty).
Once car and level are selected you’re good to go. Before start there’s a crosshair to identify the micro machine of yours. To control it use the assigned buttons you configured or the standard up, down, left, right combination.
In overall the game is pretty much straight forward and easy to use. When I first fired it up and started to play I was a bit disappointed in the graphics as I judged from the looks of the car and had a hard time controlling the car in races. Once I gave it a little time (and consulting the in game help) Things started to fit together. I had previously played the game on my N97 using the D-pad to control the car, which gave me this lousy experience. Shifting completely over to just using the touch screen was like opening a new world.
It doesn’t mean that by relying on the touch screen alone that all is good. It sometimes also feels a bit imprecise when e.g. trying to adjust the sound slider in options or when controlling the car. To control the car better while racing I found the trick to be starting from where the car is and sliding in the direction (almost like a rubber band), for the sound slider you can use a stylus.
On the positive side not having advanced graphics such as the games by Polarbit also means that RAM usage is less and that your phone still can function as I phone if you should get an incoming call or message. I also believe that the “micro” in the game title have lead to the game only having one game mode, namely quickrace. There’s no arcade or multiplayer modes in this game neither are there time trials. It’s only positive thought as it makes it more simplistic to use.
For only €3 at OVI Store, Micro Race is a game that will bring you hours of fun. Do you miss the advanced game features such as multiplayer or do you find it acceptable to release games without?
