Pako Forever review - "A short sharp shot of automotive carnage"

Pako and Pako 2 already succeeded in condensing the thrill of a good GTA car chase into a mobile friendly format. But Pako Forever manages to cook it down even further.

It takes the tactile top-down down driving model of its predecessors and applies them to a free survive-as-long-as-you-can structure.

Steering into the turn

You could look at Pako Forever as an endless mode add-on, but it's easily compelling and meaty enough to justify its stand-alone status.

The controls are dead simple. Your car auto-accelerates, leaving you to steer by holding the left and right side of the screen.

You'll need to master that seemingly straight-forward process pretty sharpish, because you have a steadily increasing number of cop cars honing in on your position. If they make a solid connection with your ride, it's game over.

The gift that keeps on giving

Fortunately, you have a number of defensive options that go beyond merely pulling doughnuts around the massive area of tarmac that constitutes Pako Forever's world.

Every now and then you'll receive a power-up that momentarily turns the tables. These can be activated with a double tap of the screen.

Varying from drone strikes to shrink rays, these outlandish weapons really give Pako Forever another dimension. I'm a particular fan of the ball and chain item, which lets you swipe aside your pursuers with a purposeful fish-tail manoeuvre.

Well handled

Add in a generously proportioned and pleasingly varied roster of unlockable vehicles (with some entertaining stipulations for unlocking them) and you have a high-score chaser that offers more than initially meets the eye.

Indeed, where Pako Forever really succeeds in its attention to detail. It's there in the notably different handling of its various vehicles, making them more than a mere cosmetic reward for your efforts.

It's in the chunky presentation, and the neat way that you can play the game in either portrait or landscape view. And it's in an ad system that doesn't drive you up the wall.

Pako Forever doesn't do anything more with the Pako formula - it actually does less. Yet somehow it ends up being an equally accomplished achievement.