G.I. Joyride

G.I. Joyride buckles you in as the driver of an armoured transport. Instead of carefully navigating the rubble-strewn roads of occupied Europe, however, the goal is to put the pedal to the metal.

Speed, tricks, and stringing up enemy kills is the order of the day in this racer that's less about reaching the finish line than about the damage you cause on your way there.

You control the APC by drawing your thumbs along the bottom of the screen to accelerate and apply the brakes. Since the transport follows a set course, you don't have to worry about steering.

Hills, dips, and other obstacles do require you to keep your velocity in check, as well manipulating the vehicle's centre of gravity. A weight indicator at the top of the screen moves with tips of your handset, allowing you to adjust the centre of gravity of the APC on-the-fly.

Playing it safe isn't an option here, however, as your APC becomes the target of enemy bombers when its speed dips too low. A five-second timer appears whenever the APC slows down, signalling the need to hit the gas and get things moving again.

There's no finite end to the road laid out in G.I. Joyride; your ride ends when you flip your APC onto its roof and get blown to bits.

By doing away with steering and focusing purely on acceleration and weight balancing, G.I. Joyride revs up intuitive play. The controls avoid complexity, offering input that is effortless while still creating a manageable level of depth. Physics, in the form of weight balancing, introduces a sophisticated twist to an otherwise toy-like racer.

Bronze, silver, gold, and elusive platinum medals encourage record-setting in nearly a dozen different areas. Longest distance travelled in a single drive and top average speed per kilometre are among the easiest medals to earn, but upping your kill combo, extending a wheelie, and stringing together flips are much harder.

The desire to best your records adds some replay value, but that's the only incentive offered for a return to G.I. Joyride.

Global rankings or the ability to shoot enemies on the sidelines with a mounted machine gun would be a step in the right direction, but an alternative mode of play is needed to truly extend play.

This lack of lasting value puts the brakes on the game's long term appeal. It exudes quality in every respect, with slick presentation, intuitive controls, and fun gameplay. However, it excels only in short form. Getting more than a few minutes of entertainment from G.I. Joyride - as fun as those moments are - is unlikely.