Hands-on with Mini Motor Racing for iPhone

When it comes to cars, it's not the livery that counts so much as what's under the bonnet.

It's the same for racing games. A realistic racer might look good, but if it doesn't have the features to back up the graphics then it's as fleeting as a test drive.

Mini Motor Racing has a light appearance, but there's serious gameplay under the hood. Packed with an array of features, modes, and tracks, this upcoming iPhone and iPod touch racer is a highly promising turnaround for developer The Binary Mill.

The game puts you behind the wheel of a miniature car that zips around 20 colourful tracks. Upon starting the single-player career, you're able to select from four distinct automobiles: Big Rig, Sport, Truck, and Hatchback.

Naturally, each vehicle handles differently. The Hatchback is small and speedy, although it slides through turns. Opt for the Big Rig and you gain some traction, though at a loss of good acceleration.

Winning races earns you cash with which you can upgrade your ride's top speed, acceleration, drift ratio, and nitro. This simple system of upgrades keeps you invested in the game: there's always a benefit to competing in one more race to improve your speed or drift.

Aside from choosing the right vehicle, selecting a suitable control configuration is key to playing Mini Motor Racing comfortably. The Binary Mill has taken criticism about the lack of options in its previous title, shooter Assault Squadron, and it's wisely including a range of control options here.

Joining the standard virtual wheel in the lower-left for steering are three alternative control schemes: slider, corner arrows, and adjacent directional arrows squeezed into the lower-left. Surprisingly, there's no accelerometer option, although it's likely due to the game's isometric camera angle.

All work well. The trick is finding the control configuration that best suits you. I don't like the virtual wheel or corner arrows, but quickly got used to the slider and adjacent arrows.

Some tuning and tweaking is needed before the game's release. The tracks need to be polished up, for example: on some tracks it's easy to get caught in an obstacles or slide off the road. There also needs to be an indicator to let you know which car you're controlling when the track is crowded at the start of a race.

I'm hopeful these and other issues will be sorted out, and that the potential of Mini Motor Racing will shine through in the end. It has a good selection of single-player modes and features, as well as local multiplayer (online would be nice, although ripe for consideration in a later update).

Most importantly, it has a great look and is fun to play. Speeding around the game's diminutive tracks in a chunky little car is entertaining, while the ability to upgrade based on cash winnings gives it some depth.