Speed Forge Extreme is the latest game in the series of futuristic racing titles that have hit the App Store. It is also a serious looker and a testament to how well development studios now understand the platform. Amazingly, it runs silky smooth on the older iPods but looks even more stunning on the new iPhone 3GS with a zoom blur effect as you speed through the environment.

The game is at its best nearing the end of the levelset, where there are some intense downhill sections with obstacles everywhere and multiple routes through the chaos. It’s worth powering through the somewhat similar tracks to get to the end, and happily levels are interspersed with chaotic arena style deathmatches where you duke it out with the AI using assorted missiles, mines and machine guns. These stages are generally faster and more intense than the races, even more so on the harder difficulty settings. They are also a lot of fun and provide a welcome change from the racing style—we can only wish for a little more variety in the arenas as they seem to be based off the same constructs—small, circular and wide open.

Regardless of the track design, every level looks brilliant, lighting effects especially have a great feel—whether it is the soft glow of the boost/slowdown glyphs, the rockets at the back of your craft, or the myriad different spotlights and beams strewn about the environment. Weapons look good too, and you get a life bar that when emptied destroys your ship and leaves you paralysed for a few seconds.

Controlling your ship around the various tracks is easy enough with the tilt control, and we didn’t find the need to switch to the other options provided. It is safe to say that there should be an option to suit those who are fans of the touch control however. You may find yourself slamming into walls if you don’t brake, which results in a satisfying camera judder. Weapons come in several different flavours, and the amount and type that you can stockpile ultimately depends on your class of ship—whether it be a fast star-fighter or a big juggernaut of a craft each handle differently.

You’ll want to set the difficulty level to normal, as easy can be a little boring as enemies won’t put up much of a fight. Overall gameplay is thrilling and the best that we’ve seen since Low Grav Racer 2. The sense of speed isn’t quite as fast as that game but the focus here is one of strategically stock piling weapons to use at key moments to prevent rivals from getting ahead.

Rather than being more like a pure racer, Speed Forge Extreme takes most of its gameplay ideas from a 3D air combat game (without the altitude control) and then adds a racing line to it. It’s arena based combat that the game certainly excels in, and given the variety of weapons, tracks, racers and the high class fit and finish we think that it is a purchase you should make.

Don’t forget, we have a larger batch of screenshots in our previous article on this title.

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