Daily Archives: June 16, 2012

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Game Review: Bang Bang Racing (PS3)

Something that has really gone awol this generation is the classic cutesy top down racer genre. Wrecked is ok, TNT Racers is better but now I’ve something to fill the gap and that is Bang Bang Racing.

The beauty, aside from the lovely graphics, with Bang Bang Racing is that there’s no weapon power ups so to speak. It’s about pure racing skill and that marks a refreshing change. Each of the 8 tracks can be raced forwards, backwards, with and without shortcuts and also in a short course form  (think National tracks). Instead of power ups however there are barrels dotted around the circuits. Some of them once hit spill oil, some spill water and some will explode. The oil and water ones if they’re hit will end up meaning you have to alter you lines in and out of corners as they make you slide and slow down. The explosive ones hurt your overall speed which you can sort out by driving in the pit lane. You can also replenish your boost this way each lap too.

Suddenly though tactics come into play. Get the other cars on the outside, ride out wide and push the other car onto the oil slick and gain an advantage – or if the same is happening to you, do you back out and then save some boost for the straight or have a go at hanging on. It just means that infuriating last-minute missile attacks are gone and the focus is on fun close racing.

The one thing that does take a while to get used to is the rotating camera which follows your car but acts like a swingman’s camera, constantly rotating around about a second behind you so initially you think you may taking the hairpin tightly but actually its a false camera perspective. Once you’ve got used to this, the camera works perfectly though and its nothing a few laps practice on each track doesn’t solve. The handling too is absolutely spot on. I felt at home within two races and while each class you progress through means braking and sliding (pressing L2 to brake whilst still accelerating with R2) become more prominent, this is where you can show off and enjoy yourself.

If there’s one downside aside from perhaps not having enough tracks (although plenty of variants of the same circuits help to a degree) it’s that its only 2 player split screen locally and no online play whatsoever. 4 player would have been fantastic and online is a shame but this is definitely a game that comes into its own in multiplayer locally so you can scream at each other! The AI is fine but as with a lot of games these days, rubber banding means you’ll never be left alone, nor really suffer for driving badly.

Positives

~Handles predictably

~Fantastic visuals and sound

~Emphasis on the racing means it feels fresh, skilled and takes away the last-minute frustration of things outside your control

~First racing game in a while that I simply could not put down for hours – even on my own!

Negatives

~Could have had a couple more tracks

~Only 2 player local (may be innaccurate)

Conclusion

Fun, cute and skilled – combined into one fantastic action bundle called Bang Bang Racing. I absolutely recommend this for anyone who is looking for a fun mini racer, anyone who remembers playing Super Skidmarks and wonders why the series isn’t going now and anyone who still enjoys local multiplayer challenges.

(Also available on PC/Xbox360)

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Big Giant Circles – “The Haunting of Magnolia Manor OST” Review

Just two tracks encapsulate “The Haunting of Magnolia Manor” but Big Giant Circles manages to squeeze as much as he can into the small riff space he’s got. “Welcome Guest” has a great hark back to church organ Dracula dramas and reminds me of the Vampire ride at Chessington! It’s a short riff which is repeated several times with interjections of huge drums. It’s “Frantic Haunting” though that is the big track, with a fantastic chipset, highly polished drums full of all kinds of effects. I really dig it when composers fuse old chip tune sounds with new technology effects and this is what the track does with aplomb. It’s catchy, evolving, highly skilled and motivated to keep you utterly on your toes.

Only two tracks you say… shouldn’t hurt to purchase them for their awesomeness then really should it!

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Alec Holowka – “Offspring Fling Soundtrack” Review

Offspring Fling, the fantastic hark back to old times game released recently has an equally quaint and joyous soundtrack alongside it thanks to Alec Holowka. Opening with its slightly regal but playful “Mother’s Day” you’re presented with a lovely sample base of strings that fall somewhere between the PS1/PS2 era. It’s a catchy tune and effortlessly rolls into the more dramatic and pacey “Adeventures Time” which has some wonderful string arrangements that bring out all the danger and excitement whilst the woodblock percussive edge keeps things playful and very much old skool. It’s a fantastic track. “Misty Morn” is a cute raspy little number which serves a good step down before you get “Mellow Magnificent” which is magnificent in name and nature. It shows off one of the styles of song structure that pops up throughout where one riff is held over four rotating chords. The string arrangements and keyboard embellishments work particularly well here and this track is certainly one of my favourites.

“John Waters” is an intentionally clumsy waltz with some interesting tempo changes. I really enjoy the way some of the notes are held as if they are chord belches to show how “bleugh” the character may be. Long live deep bass notes! “Lil Piggy” is in a similar vein with its comedic approach but this ones more chirpy as it rolls between four lines of one riff to another. “Snow Problem” is the first aural piece with softened echoing piano underlying the usual strings and although the strings are brought to the foreground, it still has a melancholy feel throughout.

“This is the Day” returns to the more dramatic bouncy feel of the earlier tracks which is then given a panic version with “Dangerisk” which sounds as close to a boss battle as anything has so far where as “Rumbly Rumble” brings out some synth bass work and some dramatic piano music to give us the big, dark dramatic track which really does sound like boss music! It’s catchy, edgy and suitably brass heavy. Good fun! “Mending” is the calming waters afterwards as things quieten down before the soundtrack rounds off with the rolling joy of “Flinging High” which is like a reprise of best parts of the soundtrack… but with new riffs!

Offspring Fling’s soundtrack is well put together. The tracks roll easily between mini riff to mini riff and never get stale. Each track repeats twice before seamlessly joining the next one so you can happily run them all back to back and in fact back to the beginning again from the end. Alex Holowka has made a great job in encapsulating an era when the fun, clumsy but catchy music of a platformer could stick in your head for hours. It’s as if we never left it.