Real Racing a hit with reviewers

This week saw the release of Firemint's highly anticipated iPhone racing game, Real Racing, on the appstore. The Melbourne studio has been working very hard on this title which is set out to become the new benchmark for games on the mobile platform. The reviews are rolling in for it, and boy, it's getting some very favourable comments from reviewers with some equally impressive scores with i.

You can check out a round-up of the reviews at http://firemint.com/realracing/reviews.html , however, I think the MTV Multiplayer review is a pretty good summary of them all...

"...more detailed and fully-featured as any other iPhone racing game before it... extraordinary level of depth and variety... No one has done better asynchronous multiplayer on the iPhone yet... Despite the 10 dollar entree fee, "Real Racing" is well worth cash. It's an incredibly deep game and will offer hours of value for your money. Oh, and definitely use CloudCell. It's easily the most interesting aspect of the game and sets "Real Racing" apart from any other iPhone racing titles before it."

I guess it's safe to consider all racing games on the iPhone truly outdone now. Speaking of which, why didn't Apple grab Firemint to showcase their technically and visually superior racing game instead of that crappy one that was shown at Apple's WWDC '09 just this week?

Check out the video for Real Racing below, and after the footage, we have the press release for Real Racing so you can check out all the incredible features..

(Press release)
Firemint, a leading developer of games for iPhone and iPod touch, today announced that its highly-anticipated racing game Firemint Real Racing™ is now available for purchase on the Apple App Store. Firemint Real Racing is Firemint's second self-published game and follows on from the phenomenal success of Flight Control, which has gone to the #1 paid app position in 20 countries including the USA, UK and Japan. With over 800,000 downloads so far, Flight Control is one of the most popular games ever to be sold on the Apple App Store.

"Firemint Real Racing is about as different as you can get from Flight Control in terms of scope, depth and features, but the two games both show our absolute commitment to delivering a highly polished, incredibly fun experience to iPhone and iPod touch gamers", said Robert Murray, Firemint's founder and CEO. "Firemint Real Racing has been a labor of love for the Firemint team since we first began building the game more than a year ago. Over the years we've had lots of experience in mobile racing game development, and our main goal with Firemint Real Racing was to create the most realistic, highest quality racing simulator ever to debut for a mobile device. We believe we have delivered on that goal."

Firemint Real Racing provides gamers with the most thrilling racing experience by featuring a unique in-car view and carefully balanced, intuitive accelerometer support. Players will also enjoy a full suite of social networking features enabled by Firemint's revolutionary Cloudcell™ technology, which allows users to automatically upload video replays of their best laps to their YouTube account and lap time records to social media sites like Twitter - all straight from the game.

Murray commented, "In terms of features and budget, Firemint Real Racing would have to be the biggest independent mobile game ever made. Our solid experience and track record made us confident in making this investment, and the Apple App Store made it possible for us to self-publish the game."

Kynan Woodman, Firemint's Development Director said "We believe we have set a new standard for App Store racing games. Firemint Real Racing realises the promise of power and elegance that the iPhone and iPod touch present as a gaming platform."

Firemint Real Racing features include:
* Boasting via broadcast – upload video replays of your laps to YouTube with the push of a button.
* Unique in-car view – cockpit view with animated driver and dashboard instruments showing actual race data.
* Custom control options – Firemint Real Racing includes several different control methods including combinations of accelerometer or touch-based steering as well as automatic or touch-based acceleration and braking. Players can adjust handling and sensitivity to suit their personal preferences.
* Huge variety of cars and tracks – Players can unlock 36 cars in three classes (hatch, sedan and muscle) and 12 unique tracks designed for racing, each with its own challenges.
* Endless hours of racing thrills – Players can choose from five game modes: local head to head over WiFi, Time Trial, Quick Race, Online League play and a massive single player Career mode.
* Best in class graphics, sound and handling – Firemint Real Racing delivers consistently high frame rates, carefully detailed trackside environments and cars, 3D sound effects, licensed music and cinematic cut scenes. Accurate surface variations including asphalt, grass, gravel and ripple-strips affect vehicle speed, responsiveness and handling.
* Connected racing for extended gameplay – In addition to YouTube functionality, players can sign up for online leagues and set up customised personal leaderboards on a purpose-built community web site.

Firemint Real Racing is available for US$9.99 from Apple's App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/