The best iPhone and iPad games this week - Motorsport Manager, Spooklands, Ace Ferrara
It's all getting a bit intense
Every Friday, Pocket Gamer offers hands-on impressions of the week's best new iPhone and iPad games.
Motorsport Manager
By Christian West - buy on iPhone and iPad (£2.99 / $4.99)
Motorsport Manager is the creation of an ex-Hello Games fella. It shows in the level of polish it boasts, equalling what the Joe Danger developer regularly achieves.
As the game's name says, you play the head of a racing team, booking sponsors, hiring drivers and engineers, developing new cars, and a whole load more.
What it captures best, however, is the intense decisions that need to be made during a race. Calling your driver into the pits often determines whether they'll keep their first place or devastatingly drop down positions.
Sometimes you're left biting your nails as you pray that your driver's tyres won't blow out on the final lap.
It's the side of racing that games often ignore. This is probably one of the top management games out there.
Spooklands
By Luderia - buy on iPhone and iPad (69p / 99c)
Arena shooters are best when you're surrounded by enemies, somehow staying alive, explosions popping off all around you. Spooklands captures that brilliantly, time and again.
The controls are the best and worst part of the game. With just a tap you throw or fire your weapon at that spot. However, this also doubles up as a dodge as the force of the effort pushes your character backwards - it's the only way to move.
When waves of small and larger enemies come hurtling at you, what ensues is chaos. You're trying to shoot and dodge at the same time, occasionally holding your finger down for the secondary, more explosive, attack.
Spooklands is tough and simple, full of risks and rewards. It looks wonderful and is a blast to play, too. It's a must-play for arena shooter lovers.
Ace Ferrara and the Dino Menace
By Philipp Seifried - buy on iPhone and iPad (£1.49 / $1.99)
The plot goes like this: Space dinosaurs have declared a war against humanity. Yep, Ace Ferrara and the Dino Menace grabs your attention. It holds it, too.
You play as Ace, who is the latest intern for the Proton Riders - the team of super pilots that protect humanity from the angry, spacefaring lizards.
One one hand, Ace Ferrara is a barrel-rolling space shooter in the style of Wing Commander. It plays well on the touchscreen, looks as good as a comic book, and will have you shooting lasers in dynamic space battles.
On the other hand, it's a funny adventure of a guy in over his head and spending way too much time at the fax machine. Ace just wants to shoot dinosaurs in space, but first you'll have to prove him worthy of the responsibility.
It's an amusing, action-packed space adventure - the kind that's been missing since the early '90s.
