Hands on with Jet Car Stunts on iPhone

All driving games demand that you put your foot down as hard as possible and hit the finish line quickly, but some require you to do it with your motor still intact. Those are more like driving simulators, though, and as uncouth as it might sound it's crashing, smashing, skidding and boosting that provide some of the best driving games.

Melbourne-based True Axis is set to take this concept to new extremes in Jet Car Stunts (beware the spoonerisms when saying that), which involves getting your blisteringly fast Formula 1-style car to the finish line by any means necessary.

Racing games are easily the most evolved titles on the iPhone, so Jet Car Stunts can have all the quirks and raw entertainment value it wants but it's still got to live up to some immensely harsh competition.

And while the visuals perhaps aren't as detailed as some of the more traditional driving games, they're as slick and liquid-smooth in Jet Car Stunts as most any polygons we've seen bouncing around the iPhone screen.

It's simple digital accelerator, brake and boost buttons with accompanying accelerometer controls that power your car, as you'd expect, but the real treasure of Jet Car Stunts is in its tracks.

These winding rollercoaster rides offer a sublimely chaotic racing experience, requiring you to open up your limited rocket jets one moment to clear the gaping breaks in the track, then pump the air brakes to bring the car down without overshooting the other side, or power sliding irresponsibly around snaking corners, the next moment.

In many cases, these tracks have no sides, which, coupled with the skyline backdrops, adds a toe-curling sensation of vertiginous danger that turns the already exhilarating race into a delicious, white-knuckle rally.

It's this tangible danger that allows Jet Car Stunts to live up to its name. The sheer recklessness required to make the checkpoints means developing a complete disregard for your virtual life, as the car screeches along the very edge of the track on two wheels, flips, rolls and smashes to pieces as you desperately attempt to put it back on four wheels in time for the next outrageous jump.

So far we've only seen the opening levels of the platforming and time trial modes, but True Axis has created the nucleus of a beautifully dynamic and electrifying racing spectacle. With OpenFeint thrown into the mix, we're on the edge of our seats in anticipation of the full release.