Racing games on touch screen devices work pretty well, as long as they aren’t proper simulators. Go Rally is a good example of this. This is racing in stages, without any other competitors in your way, so it’s all time trials. The controls are simple enough, with everything from auto-throttle and motion controls, to traditional buttons on the screen. I prefer the latter, and it works really well. Granted, the game plays even better with a compatible controller (I like the Xbox One controller), but it’s not one of those situations where you won’t play it with touchscreen controls just because the physical variant is better.
I have to tell you, I almost deleted the app after the first two races. Go Rally plays great, and the only reason I gave it two races at all was the intuitive controls. The graphics and sound, however, is underwhelming. This isn’t what I want to use my M1 chip for, so yeah, I almost dropped it there. I’m glad I didn’t, because Go Rally is truly enjoyable, despite its simple look. Maybe it’s due to the modest graphics, but the game flows really well, and I often find myself just doing one more race.
There’s another cool feature too, and that’s the track editor. You can create and share your tracks, and also browse other people’s creations. There’s even a daily track feature, which adds to the longevity of the game. The track editor is simple enough to work with, too. I threw together a few tracks to test it out, and if you’re the kind of person who gets hooked on games like Super Mario Maker, or perhaps you’re as old as me and remember creating tracks in Excitebike, then this one’s for you.
Look, Go Rally won’t blow you away. It works best in shorter sessions, since it’s only time trials, it isn’t as engaging as when racing against opponents on the same track. Go Rally’s doing its best to make it feel less like a solitary experience, with fake tweets from competitors, and comments from various characters involved in your racing stable, or whatever. It’s cute, and well done. Still, I tend to do a couple of races, and then one or two more just because it’s fun, before moving on to other things. That’s pretty good, as it were.
🏁 🏁 🏁 out of 5 — Good.
Go Rally is only $3, with no in-app purchases. You should give it a… go… (Sorry.)
