Asphalt 4: Elite Racing

Ridiculous speeds, nitro boosts, powerslides and police chases are the order of the day for the latest instalment of this fun racing series. All of the above elements have been found in driving games before, but Asphalt GT brings them together in one package. At points, it feels like too much is being rammed into the game and instead of refining one aspect, it spreads them all out a little bit too thinly.

There is still a wealth of awesomeness to be found here however, with a rake of licensed cars and challenges available through the main career mode. You start off with a crummy, yet ludicrously fast Nissan and take to the highways of Beverly Hills.

The first thing you may notice is how colourful everything looks. It's an attractive game make no mistake, but the scenery has trouble keeping up with the mental speed, so often you may find a massive palm tree or parked police car springing up in front of you with only a split second warning. When you crash because of this, you feel cheated, although once you get a bit more confident this really does become test of your reflexes which keeps you on the edge.

Throughout the course of the game, you will travel across many locations including Monte Carlo, Paris and Dubai winning races, earning some serious moolah and entering fierce duels. Winning one of these one-on-one battles adds the losers' car to your garage and gives you a better chance of schooling other racers.

The control system is fine for the Blackberry Pearl [version played] but due to the slimmed-down keypad it is common to hit the wrong buttons at times. There is trackball support for steering but over and under-steering by accident is again an issue you will overcome in time.

HItting ‘2' activates your nitrous and this is when things get really interesting. When you are going really fast you will start to rack up combos by performing certain manoeuvres, such as gaining air from jumps, near-missing other cars, chaining boosts taking out cop cars.

The police only hit the scene once your wanted meter fills up. Smashing through fences, ramming other cars off the road and generally driving like a nutcase will result in a high speed chase. If you crash your car when a cop is around, you get busted and it's game over. All of your stunts and mad driving is rewarded by cash bonuses at the end of each round so there is a nice risk-reward system here. Drive crazy for bigger points, but run an increased risk of wasting your car.

For a mobile racing game, Gameloft have pulled out many stops in creating an extensive package and for the best part this is successful despite some control and visual complaints. Races are short enough for playing on the go, but there are many of these so you definitely get your moneys worth.