Asphalt Street Storm Racing Review

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Game Description

Rev it up

Asphalt Street Storm Racing is a bit of a departure from the rest of the Asphalt series. While it's still full of fancy and colorful cars, plus some elaborate visual effects, it's not a standard racing game. This time it's a drag racer.

In the Garage

How you take care of your car, and which car you use, can make a difference.

• Save money for upgrading. The money you earn from races can be spent buying new cars, but only a few can be acquired this way - most need to be bought with premium currency or unlocked by completing races. Better to spend that money on upgrading the cars you already have.
• Watch the numbers. Upgrading comes at more than just a monetary cost. Improving torque may reduce weight or increase the strain on the engine. In fact, just about everything increases the strain on the engine. Keep an eye on the stats and find a good balance of give-and-take.
• Nothing is set in stone. No matter how much you upgrade your car's parts, you can always go back and equip something you've already unlocked previously. You probably won't have to, but it's an option.
• You can upgrade lots of stuff at the same time. It takes time for the higher-end upgrades to take effect, but so long as you have the cash you can start upgrading as much as you want - no need to wait for one upgrade to complete to start another.
• Customization isn't important. Sure you can spend money on decals and new paint jobs, even an underglow effect, but none of that will affect your car's performance. This is fine if you've got cash to spare but otherwise you're probably better off saving it for upgrades.

On the Street

Timing and technique can make all the difference between evenly-matched cars.

• How you start is very important. In the moments before the race actually starts, you can rev up the engine. If you keep the needle in the green, this will allow you to kick off the race moving a little bit faster. You can also start accelerating early if you want, which will result in a significant speed boost if you can time it perfectly with keeping the needle in the green.
• Don't get too antsy. Yes you can start early, but you don't want to start too early. There's a white line on the road that you'll want to avoid crossing before the countdown timer reaches zero. So long as you manage that, you can start moving early. I find I have the best luck with this by waiting for the countdown to reach 1, then hitting the accelerator.
• Keep it in the green. Once you start racing, you mostly just have to worry about how you time your gear shifting. Shifting too early or too late can slow you down a bit, but if you can time it for when the needle is at least in the yellow you'll be fine. If you can manage to shift when it's in the green, though, you'll get a tiny speed boost.

A Big Shift

I think so long as players know what to expect, they should have a good time with Asphalt Street Storm Racing. It's well suited for the mobile platform, and it looks quite nice to boot. Just don't download it looking for an arcade racer and you should be fine.

Asphalt Street Storm Racing Review

Your Engines, Start Them

Okay, so, admittedly I haven't been on top of every single Asphalt game that's come out on mobile, but the handful of games I did manage to play were all what I'd classify as 'arcade racers.' That is to say, racing games that focus on power-ups and impossible jumps and unrealistic spectacle. Fun stuff. Asphalt Street Storm Racing is something quite a bit different, being entirely focused on linear drag racing. Whether or not that's a bad thing depends on what you're looking for, but it's worth knowing in advance that this isn't your typical Asphalt.

Floor it

Every race in Asphalt Street Storm Racing is a matter of reaching the finish line before the other car or cars - Racing 101, really. Except that now it's all about drag racing, with each car flying down a straightaway and things like tuning or shift timing determining the winner. So I guess skill sort of still plays a part but it's more about tapping buttons at the right moment than it is about typical racing skills.

Right off the bat I have to admit that this is a very good looking game. The different cars have a nice showroom shine to them, there are several different decal and paint job customization options that look good (if you've got the cash), and the occasional visual flourishes that accompany things like a well-timed start or using nitrous boosts are enjoyably flashy. The environments look pretty good as well, from what I could make out, but they fly by pretty fast so it can be tough to tell sometimes.

Part of me can appreciate the simplicity of the racing as Of course that simplicity is a bit of a double-edged sword. It's great for someone looking for a bit of simple pick-up-and-play time wasting, but not so much for anybody searching for a more robust racing experience. Really it's just tapping the shift button when the accelerator hits the green line. The most complicated player input is when starting a race for the first time, where you can tap the accelerator to try and keep the needle in the green, then take off at just the right time to get a speed boost right off the bat. It feels good to pull off but it's not exactly as thrilling as cutting a rival off just before the finish line.

Crosses the Finish Line

I think Asphalt Street Storm Racing is decent fun for what it is. As a drag racing game it plays well and looks pretty, plus there's a fair bit of customization to be had and I always enjoy that stuff. However, the Asphalt name isn't exactly synonymous with drag racing, which might lead to some disappointment. So long as you know what you're getting into, and you're fine with that, you should still have a good time.

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