Kamikaze Race is developed by TastyPlay, and is currently available on Windows Phone 7 devices for $.99 USD, additionally a free ad-supported version is available. This game is available through the marketplace here.
Kamikaze Race is an addictive game with a simple premise that deserves your attention, at least until you crash into a ball of flames.
The game is a Frogger-esq game through expressway traffic in a car with no brakes and is constantly accelerating, so the question is not if, but when, you will crash. The game has two virtual buttons at the bottom of the touch screen to steer left and right.
The game sets up as a little car on the nine-lane expressway and the driver has to weave through traffic while constantly increasing his speed. Since the game has an aerial view, random bypasses temporarily block the road ahead, bringing unknown elements into play. Additionally, the car can drive into oncoming traffic where a three-way lane is also available and necessary to get past some obstacles.
Kamikaze Race game also adds that extra bit of difficulty by allowing the player to distinguish “fixed lanes.” With this feature off, a player can be between lanes, an ability that is great for getting past smaller, non-truck vehicles.
For whoever needs a bit more challenge and variety to the free version, the full version also offers a wider range of cars to pick from.
Here’s what we liked:
Free/iOS -like Price: Kamikaze Races’ addictive game play make the free version irresistible and the $ 0.99 cents full version feel like quite the bargain. At the very worst you got a quality game instead of a McDouble.
Replay ability: With the addition of high scores, along with friendly competition with its social features, the game has the lure to get you to go back and try to beat your friends’ scores. The added bonus of multiple cars to choose from helps shake up the experience after a while.
Those darn overpasses: The unknown is frightening, and frustrating. The overpasses add another element to advance the gameplay, but can cause a moment for concern later on, especially if the timing of your lane changes aren’t right. This is likely more of a plus than a minus, but the overpasses WILL make you mad.
Here’s what we did not like:
Button placement: The virtual buttons on the bottom can easily become hazardous, or at the very least annoying, since the pause button (at least on the Samsung Focus Flash the game was reviewed on) is right below the left arrow. Luckily, an experienced gamer might be able to pay attention to this and just as easily press higher on the screen to navigate the car.
Replay ability: As with all similar games, replay ability is sort of a double-edged sword. You can only sit and pass the same car so many times before you realize you just spent an hour playing the same car in the same level.
No auto-pause: People call when you are playing games. The fact the game does not auto-pause when receiving an incoming call is frustrating, especially as the game progresses and you are close to beating a friend’s, or you own, score. On the other hand, you can do this to your friends if you know they are close to beating your own high score.
Kamikaze Race is mesmerizing to say the least. The constant hum from the ever accelerating car makes the experience feel like a mad, crazy driver swerving in and out of traffic risking his own life as well as those around him, and the just-one-more-time effect occurs more often than is good for you.
Score: Buy it. Scan the code below to get the full version.
