Rally Master Pro, the first real rally game for the iDevice, has been released by FishLabs in the app store. Featuring multiple game modes, terrific 3D graphics, and entertaining gameplay, Rally Master Pro should find some traction among the many racing titles.
There are 4 modes of play to choose from: Career, Time Trial, Adrenaline, and Mini-Games. Career is the main attraction, where you compete in 3 different rallies of varying difficulty, consisting of 9 races each for a total of 27 courses. Your best time on each track is aggregated and the driver with the lowest total time across all 9 tracks is declared the winner of the rally. Completing tracks in Career mode unlocks the ability to race those same tracks in Time Trial, where you must be quick to set, or break, the course record. Adrenaline tasks you with reaching the finish line within a set amount of time with minimal to no damage to your vehicle. That’s right, your vehicle is bound to take some damage and it shows, both visually and in performance. After every couple of races, you are given the opportunity to repair your vehicle for better performance in subsequent races. Repairs are completed via Mini-Games, the final game mode. You can choose to have your crew automatically repair the vehicle, which will be quick, but not terribly efficient. Alternatively, you can engage in a mini-game to control your repair future. Available mini-games include Wheel Nuts, Air Pressure, and Cable Connect. The games require a quick finger and good judgment. All are locked until you come in second place in a rally. Depending on the rally difficulty level (Amateur, Professional, Expert), one of the games will unlock for each rally.
Graphically, Rally Master Pro is quite appealing, with 3D modeling and plenty of attention to detail. The game includes realistic weather conditions and various track surfaces. The sound effects are decent, but not great. They seem a bit weak and just don’t seem to fit with the beautiful graphics. Your co-pilot does shout out audible directions for upcoming turns, though, which is extremely helpful as you struggle to keep control over your vehicle. Controls are adequate without being great. It is understandable that the vehicle should do some slipping and sliding, especially in sloppy conditions or on loose tracks, but it feels like a constant struggle to keep it in the center sweet spot of the track. There are 3 controls options: accelerometer, touch (analog), and touch (digital). We found the tilt controls to be the easiest to deal with, though all three would get the job done. There is an option for AutoGas, which is recommended, and a manual brake/reverse button on-screen. Sensitivity can be altered via a slider and the screen orientation can be flipped. Framerate was smooth and we experienced no stuttering.
The thing that will most likely annoy racing fans is the lack of visual competition. You do not race against any opponent. Instead, you run the course by yourself and attempt to best their predetermined track times. In effect, the entire game is one time trial run after another. Regardless, it remains a whole lot of fun. There are medals to earn and online leaderboards, though we were unable to connect. While true that there are plenty of racing games in the app stores, some of which are simply outstanding titles, this is the first true rally game, nicely filling a niche that has been overlooked. Rally Master Pro is currently on sale for $4.99, a fair price given the price of other racing games similar to this 4-Dimple winner.
Rally Master Pro gets our AppSmile 4-Dimple rating:
