This month we will dive into the realm of the red giant, Maxis / Hotlink and see what they serve in their mobile games menu. A link in Maxis homepage leads me to their Games Unlimited site at http://www.gamesunlimited.com.my.

3 games are featured in the introductory animation and those images left quite an imprint in my mind. They are Burnout, Need For Speed (NFS) ProStreet and NFS Carbon. All developed under EA Mobile.

 

At the time of writing, Maxis was running a promotion on these games but the promotion deadline fell on 31st January and since this issue will reach readers in February it would be too late to join the competition. But anyway, these 3 racing games have credibility and can hold water by themselves without any promotion.

NFS CARBON
First stop, let’s look at NFS Carbon. The objective of the game is simple, gather your crew, blast down city streets and confront rival gangs. Make a joke of your rival’s lap times with a searing display of speed and drift. Watch your back while you are at it as other gangs might try to muscle in and crash your party. Then test your mettle as you take on-the-edge racing to the mountains in a high-octane duel with the rival boss to own the city and win sweet new rides. It all ends, one way or another, on the twisted and unforgiving hairpins of the Canyon.

 

Alright, the description is over flowery, but if you played the PC version before, you will find similarities. As for the controls, it’s pretty simple; your car auto-accelerates. All you need to do is press ‘6’ for right and ‘4’ for left. While taking a corner, holding ‘5’ down will enable you to drift. Button ‘2’ is used for power ups. This control system makes NFS Carbon very much a two-handed mobile game, though; mastering drifts takes a bit of practice. Since the game is only around 300 KB, there are only 2 race variants, street racing for turf domination followed by the boss fight canyon duel. Despite this shortcoming, I assure you that the graphics, cars upgrade, power ups (Nitrous, Snitch and Blocker), blended together with a bit of storyline will definitely get you playing it for quite a while.


NFS ProStreet
Next up is NFS ProStreet which is a direct sequel of NFS Carbon. This mobile NFS ProStreet is a slimmed down version of the original game. The game jumps out of the underground and goes legit. While in Carbon, all races are held at night, ProStreet is the direct opposite. Hello sunshine! Since ProStreet is a circuit race, player don’t have to drive like a loose cannon avoiding traffic. But without opposing traffic, it kind of made the game insipid. Luckily a total of 8 AIs are put in to hype it up. Drifting is further enhanced and becomes the heart of the game. Once your ride is kicked into drift, always keep the drift meter in the green and you’ll gain nitro as well as a healthy speed boost upon exiting the corner. Let the drift meter slide into the red, however, and it is 100 to zero mph in 0.5 seconds for you.

 

The concept of best line is also introduced. Each corner has a line through it that is the quickest; player can try to string all of these lines together forming the quickest way around the track. If you aim for best line, you will have to forfeit drifting though, I personally think drifting is better as it bring cash rewards. There is another tip I like to share, slipstream. Try your best to get right behind an AI car as it will help you go faster due to the decrease in wind resistance on your car.


BURNOUT
If speeding towards the finish line and winning the checkered flag is not your cup of tea, maybe you should try Burnout; creating mayhem as you drive. This game rewrites the rules of the road. Your car is to be used as a deadly weapon to crush other competitors. Cause spectacular crashes, force cars over jump ramps and into chasms, speed towards the finish line while making sure the other drivers never get there; and watch your aggressiveness being ranked from one- to five-star. Unleashed your dark side and don’t hold back. (Editor’s note: Good Lord! No wonder young punks drive like this on the road.)

 

The game’s only objective is to create chaos through its twisted play modes. Tracks in forest, beach and downtown locales can be unlocked to stage your next battle. During races, power ups will be available to aid your road to success. ‘Score Doubler’ doubles your score for a 5 seconds period while ‘Fix-It’ repairs your car fully. ‘Supercharge’ increases your car’s speed for 5 seconds and lastly my personal favourite ‘Solid’ which makes your car invulnerable for 5 seconds.

 

Burnout utilizes a top-down viewpoint instead of chase camera to provide more road information. Although the top-down viewpoint kind of resembles old video game technology; it is nicely done here to match the games dynamics. If you have lots of rage, try this game instead.

Obviously the Maxis Hotlink game site has lots more to offer. These three games are just the tip of the iceberg. If you are a Hotlink user, don’t take my words for granted, browse around to check for other interesting games. EA Mobile priced their games at RM8 per piece! Safe driving everybody!