Start Your Engines, It’s ‘CSR Racing’

I always find it incredibly irritating when I tell someone that I work for a mobile gaming site and they respond with the same smug sneer as if to say under their breath, “Heh, mobile games, yeah right.” The size of the crowd that is still against the notion that visually and technically satisfying gaming experiences can exist and be played on a cell phone or MP3 player is incredibly disturbing.

I always find it incredibly irritating when I tell someone that I work for a mobile gaming site and they respond with the same smug sneer as if to say under their breath, “Heh, mobile games, yeah right.” The size of the crowd that is still against the notion that visually and technically satisfying gaming experiences can exist and be played on a cell phone or MP3 player is incredibly disturbing. Once in awhile, however, comes a game that proves such total packages exist, a game with graphics and gameplay you could easily find on the shelves of your local mom and pop store. At WWDC, Natural Motion Games , the developer behind console titles such as Backbreakers as well as many incarnations on the iOS platform, demonstrated a game called CSR Racing , and it looks amazing .

Your eyes are not lying, the graphic quality displayed in these screenshots directly mimics those of the actual game. There is one catch though. To enjoy those eye-popping visuals, you’ll have to be playing on Apple’s third generation iPad, not to say that the game doesn’t look good on other systems, but for the latest graphics, you need the latest hardware.

Alright, enough about pretty pictures, let’s talk about the game. It was officially released to the public just two days ago, and is available for all of Apple’s lovely iDevices. In game, players are strapped into the seat of a variety of top shelf, achingly expensive sports and muscle cars with one objective: speed. CSR Racing is all about the dragster experience. Line up against the enemy, wait for the green light and just floor it. Time your acceleration and gear changes while heading down the straight to stay on the power as smoothly as possible before leaving your opponent in the dust and taking the checkered flag. Having trouble pulling away? Just want to add a cherry on top of your victory? Hit the nitrous button and show the crowd who’s boss.

Natural Motion have done a stunning job with customization in the game as well. Each victory earns the player cash which they may spend to supe up their vehicle. Upgrade your transmission, install a bigger, better nitrous kit, the game offers nearly as many customization opportunities as anything in the Midnight Club series. Tweaks can be aesthetic as well as under the hood. Add outrageous decals and paint jobs to any aspect of your cars body so that you look as cool as you feel while charging down the road, engine roaring in your purpose built dragster.

How much for all of this polished, intense racing action? Nothing. That’s right, CSR Racing is currently available on App Storefor absolutely naught. There are plenty of in-app purchases to keep your wallet busy if you want to speed up the pace of your vehicle’s development, but no one’s forcing you to buy anything.

For more information on this and other Natural Motion projects, check out their official website.