Race the Sun

Its like somebody decided to create a skyroads for the new millenium. The idea is simple - chase the setting sun with your solar powered vehicle while navigating the stationary, and sometimes not so stationary, structures on an alien planet. It is a simple idea that has been masterfully executed to create a strangely captivating experience. Without much pause you will find yourself steering a ship traveling at break neck speed on the surface of an alien planet and most likely you will atomize the ship against an 'adamantium'-solid wall while taking in the scenery within about 5 seconds. You can immediately retry (there are no lives to expire). After a couple of tries you'll find your bearings and start to map out routes containing several power ups and speed boosters. You'll start to notice ramps here and there and try to incorporate them into your routes to get the entire strings of elevated power ups. Playing around with these ramps might trigger you hitting an obstacle at exactly the right angle so that you catapult the ship 100s of meters into the sky revealing a whole swathe of the alien landscape as you seem to stare directly into the sun. (very memorable experience). If you travel far enough you will unlock successive levels which you automatically transition to. There are also ship upgrades, such as making the ship magnetic so that it attracts power ups from a small distance away. Of course there are also leader boards and achievements, which are quite standard.

For those used to more conventional racers where you slowdown at hard turns, the mechanics of the game of always going forward with no slowdown will be aggravating at first. Similarly, there isn't much in a way of upgrades for your ship and there is no real story or strong feeling of progression (at least, not in offline mode). It's simply navigating through the levels grabbing boosts and avoiding obstacles while trying to accomplish sometimes strange "achievements"... At first, I was mildly disappointed by the simplicity and limitations of it all, but I have since come to a strange realization... this game is pretty addictive! I keep coming back for small 15-20 minutes fixes of this game. There is something strangely attractive about the minimalistic environment that is both surreal and pleasing to the eye while keeping the player focused on the purpose of the game. In the end, the simplistic gameplay also works in the game's favor, keeping the atmosphere casual, but intense and the focus on dodging the obstacles at high speed across the landscape. It's a very pure undiluted experience. You'll die... often and you won't care! As your vehicle crash, the only thing on your mind will be starting over to blaze over the landscape again at high speed while skillfully dodging obstacles. DISCLAIMER: The above review is based on the single-player experience. Haven't tried the multiplayer components yet.

Summary : "Race the Sun" is a cool little game. While absolutely not revolutionary in any way, there is just a feeling of upbeat coolness and freedom that I felt while flying throught the desertic levels. To me, the game is best played in short bursts, and then it becomes almost a meditative experience, your mind solely occupied with flying at a super high speed and dodging obstacles. Graphics - 3/5 : while the minimalistic graphics create an almost sureal feeling, as several reviewers noted, they are the very textbook definition of MINIMALISTIC. Might turn some people off. The game's clearly not about the graphics anyway. Sound - 4/5 : the electronic music is both relaxing and fast-paced, changing with such factors as the region you're travelling through and the sun's position relative to the horizon. The music is very appropriate for the sort of speedy flying experience that "Race the Sun" is. Story/Gameworld/Atmosphere - 3/5 : there is no story, and the atmosphere is so barren that you're likely to project your own thoughts and imagination into it, which is not necesarily a bad thing. Gameplay : 3/5 - the gameplay is fun, but becomes pretty difficult and precise in later levels. The best scored user generated levels are also fun, but have varying difficulty. The controls are beyond simple, you can jump right in ten seconds after booting the game up. Extra : a really cool and friendly atmosphere all around. User submitted levels are often interesting. Each race starts with a optimistic, ironic and/or absurd musing about life, flying around the Universe and Everything. Believe it or not, crashing into buildings is also fun and is even rewarded by the creators of the game.

doctor's orders: 1 round per day, for several months.