Asphalt 6: Adrenaline Review

Asphalt 6 is made by Gameloft, which means that the development team thoroughly studied Need For Speed before production. Being the 6th game in the series, there wasn't much studying to do, but Asphalt 6 still feels like a reiteration of the EA classic, complete with snappy graphics, turbo boosts, and plenty of oncoming traffic.

Unlike the other recent Gameloft games though, Asphalt 6 doesn't seem so pretty it hurts. It doesn't have pixel perfect cut scenes or cars that almost look better than the real thing. What is does have is raw speed, and the graphics do a great job of showing it. When you are going fast in Asphalt 6, it feels like you are going really fast. The engine explodes in sound at high RPM's and the adrenaline boosts (turbo) look like they are straight out of TRON. Crazy speed effects do make the game quite entertaining, but don't go in thinking that you are going to be looking at the next Real Racing 2.

The game itself plays just about like any Need For Speed type game on the iPhone. It has oncoming trafic that you can "nearly miss" to collect extra dollars, places to get some dollar producing airtime, some nitro boosts floating around the track, plenty of places to drift, even when you don't need to, and plenty of shortcuts. The controls are similarly arcade focused, using only an automatic accelerator, a brake button (turn while breaking to go into a drift), and a boost button. There are very few moments in Asphalt 6 that will strike you as too hard to pass, but you will be replaying levels over and over go get more drift points or more cars "eliminated."

Fans of the Need For Speed series will also be happy to see that there are some solid car upgrades to be had throughout. As you progress through the game you'll unlock different car upgrades that you can buy, sponsors that will help you gain money, and new cars. The new cars are all real cars from real car manufacturers, and there is a fun range of cars, and even bikes, to play with. If you are really proud of your car collection you can even "walk" through your garage in first person mode to look at all of them.

There is no question that racing fans will get a kick out of Asphalt 6, but fans of arcade racers will love it just a bit more. The graphics are solid, the sound is good, the driving mechanics are exciting (maybe a bit too forgiving for racing sim fans), and the game is just plain fun. If you like these kinds of games, you definitely won't regret your purchase.