The other day I posted on ‘Snowboading TnT’, which has been re-released with some whizzy new motion-sensing (accelerometer) code in it, to make the most out of the game. Well, I’ve had some time to play it now (one of the benefits of being an insomniac – you have loads of time to play-test games!), and I have to say I like it!
Now S-TNT isn’t one of those games that you’ll spend hours and hours on – at least I don’t think so – but I do think it will serve brilliantly as a stop-gap when you’ve got say 10-60 mins spare, and want a game that will hook you, and get you playing with a mixture of racing, tricks, and tactics!
The downhill element of the snowboarding is much like any other game – start at the top of the hill, then race to the bottom (in this case it’s against the clock). You could even argue the point about doing tricks off jumps is like MANY other games out there – but I say when it ain’t broke, why fix it? The ace that this game holds though, is that you probably haven’t seen smooth fast graphics like these on too many other mobile phone platforms – in my view its like playing a late PS1 / early PS2 game, and obviously the simplicity of the accelerometer/touch control system helps things along.
Speaking of the touch control, it’s not used for too much – mainly just your crouching, ready to explode of a ramp and pull some tricks (which incidentally are controlled by the movement of the device itself, as is the steering). But that’s probably the right combination of controls for a game like this.
Things I would like to have seen in the game are clearer markings of where the run goes – because sometimes it’s easy to veer of course and smack a tree or other obstacle. However, overall, this game is a great laugh, and well worth it’s current price of $0.99 / £0.59. Grab it while you can from the App Store!
Overall rating: A- (lost a few marks for the lack of clear course markings occasionally)