Top 10 best iPhone racing games (2009)

There’s something terribly improper about motor racing, don’t you think? If you’ve been brought up properly, you’ll have been taught never to push into the front of queues, never to take the first cake from the box and always to allow your elders and betters to enter a building before you. All of which is quite contrary to the spirit of racing.

That’s why I’m sat here writing this article rather than sunning myself in Monaco after a tough weekend of racing in Belgium. I’m just too polite to be a millionaire racing driver. Nothing to do with my lack of talent and inherent laziness, oh no.

When it comes to racing games, though, I’ll adopt my imperious Schumacher stare and jump in with both feet. Everyone loves racing games, whether they be hardcore simulations or casual kart racers.

The iPhone has a little of both and a whole bunch of stuff in between. Here’s a pick of the best.

Top 10 iPhone racing games

The likes of WipEout and F-Zero have ensured that no gaming platform is complete without a slick futuristic racer on the books. Low Grav Racer fits the bill perfectly with its slick neon-tinted graphics and fast-paced gameplay.

Perhaps the major success is in the handling, with the floaty movement of the hover cars mapping excellently to the iPhone’s accelerometer controls. It really does feel like you’re at the helm of a magnificent flying machine.

Low Grav also works as a viable alternative to all the grounded urban street racers. When you’re tired of burning rubber, you might want to take to the skies with this game.

Just as every gaming platform needs a decent futuristic racer, it also needs a cutesy go kart game. Unlike Low Grav Racer in the former field, though, Krazy Kart Racing from Konami had some stiff opposistion when it pulled up on the App Store. Both Cro-Mag Rally and Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart had made valuable contributions to the early iPhone line-up already.

Krazy Kart Racing, though, takes things to the next level with large injection of speed and a serious challenge. It may be as cute as the rest, but the game has a decidedly steely edge.

The final clincher has to be the inclusion of an online multiplayer mode, which puts the majority of straight iPhone racers to shame.

At the time of writing, Asphalt 5 is due out very soon, but even a year on the current iteration this is one of the better racers available on iPhone.

The key quality possessed by Asphalt 4 is variety. From the locations you drive in to the range of real life cars on offer, and even down to the number of control options you have, there’s always something new to try.

This extends to the type of races, from straightforward dashes to cop chases to destructive rampages. Whatever your fancy, Asphalt 4 is the game that likes to give.

Who'd have thought that a single-button racer could work? Well, anyone who’s ever played with a Scalextrix set for starters. And that’s exactly the sort of experience SlotZ sets out to emulate, with the twisting plastic tracks of our youths digitally rebuilt before our very eyes.

Like the physical game, there’s a surprising level of nuance to SlotZ Racer’s racing model. You’ll need to learn the tracks well in order to maximise your use of the throttle and acquire the best lap times.

If that still isn’t enough depth for you, there’s even a decent track-builder included, which allows you concoct your very own dream course.

Racing isn’t all about cars and karts, you know. Aqua Moto Racing takes things to the water in the form of jet ski racing, swapping the surety of a solid piece of tarmac for the choppy, unpredictable waves of the ocean.

The accelerometer controls are spot on, connecting you to your mount admirably. The course design and trick system  is finely balanced, rewarding risky play with ever more boost.

Just as impressive is the game’s lengthy and well pitched Career mode, which packs in a number of excellent courses and some realistic AI competitors. While the aqua racing genre may be a little wet behind the ear, Aqua Moto Racing acts like a seasoned pro.

The team that produced Aqua Moto Racing went on to produce Dirt Moto Racing, an altogether more grounded experience. This time you’re back on terra firma with a quad bike between your legs, but Resolution Interactive nails the handling just as it did with its jet-ski racer.

Also similar to Aqua Moto Racing is an excellent Career mode, which packs in a whopping eight racing tours of four races each. The sheer quality of the tracks and variety of racing modes is a sight to behold.

In fact, about the only thing missing from this comprehensive racing package is any form of multiplayer, but there’s more than enough going on for the solo player to make it worth your while.

It’s all about the spectacle. From the stunningly sharp visuals to the ostentatious power slides at the game’s core, Need For Speed Undercover is the limelight hogging poser of this list.

Fortunately, there’s depth behind those good looks and flashy moves. Weaving through traffic during one of the game’s many pursuits is a rare thrill, while keeping your car in a sustained slide with minor tweaks of handset is always an edge-of-the-seat experience.

Ever the showman, there’s even a car-customisation aspect that allows you to deck out your ride with an outlandish paint job, as well as engine and nitro upgrades.

It’s rare for licensed games to outlive the source material in people’s memories, but Fast & Furious: The Game certainly deserves to. Unlike the generic film franchise, the game is of uncommon quality.

Besides stunning presentation and a solid driving model (as you’d expect from developer Firemint) Fast & Furious throws in a few novel surprises. Not only do you have the usual array of time trials, races and pursuits, but there’s also the likes of drift challenges and drag races to enjoy. The latter in particular excels by shifting focus from car handling to successfully timing manual gear shifts.

Fast & Furious’s subtle tweaks to the usually unsubtle urban racing sub-genre mark it out as the best of the bunch.

If Fast & Furious showed Firemint cutting loose with a silly franchise, Real Racing sees the Australian developer getting serious. Here we have a racing game that overtakes all other standard racers on the iPhone with ease, and pulls into the midst of the leading PSP pack.

Still far and away the most technically impressive iPhone game on the market, Real Racing also features some of the tightest accelerometer controls and the sturdiest AI.

Real Racing is without doubt the finest traditional racer on the iPhone, and it remains at the bleeding edge in terms of what Apple’s little unit is capable of.

The most peculiar game on this list, DrawRace is also possibly the best. Of course, it’s tough to make a direct comparison with the beautifully rendered Real Racing, as the two games have very little in common beyond the racing theme.

But one thing DrawRace can boast that no other title on this list can is that it would be an inferior experience on any other platform. The Flight Control-esque control method sits beautifully on Apple’s device, as you sketch out optimal racing lines and watch anxiously as your car loses traction following a particularly fast straight.

The online connectivity clinches the deal, as you return endlessly to try and creep up the rankings and into the top ten per cent of fellow addicts.