Need for Speed: Undercover is the iPhone version of the latest game in EA’s long-running racing game series. The series has gone through numerous changes over the years, beginning initially as a simulation style racer before moving into more arcade pursuits with police chases featuring prominently in the series. The series then shifted focus to street racing, which is where my interest in the series really started to pick up. Eventually they moved away from street racing and back to a more realistic style as well as police chases. Undercover is a hybrid of many of these past styles, featuring a good deal of police action, the open-endedness of recent games, as well as a detailed story mode to help flesh out the action.

The main story mode of the game takes you through a series of missions and races as you lead your character through the ranks of the underworld as he tries to break up a smuggling ring. On your journey you’ll have access to a large selection of different cars, all of which can be upgraded and outfitted with different parts and accessories by earning cash by winning races and completing missions and events.

The graphics have carried over from the console versions well, with beautiful environments and great texturing. The iPhone is just a notch below the PSP version in graphical prowess, which is saying quite a bit. There are 3 main areas to explore, and each is large and detailed, with unique sights and pathways scattered about the map.

One element of the iPhone version that doesn’t mercifully escape the transition from the big screen to the handheld is the cheesy cinemas, which were universally panned in the console versions. They’re painful to watch, conjuring up nightmares of all the shovelware on the Sega CD, when live acting FMV was all the rage (and drew the rage of most who played them).

Controls are solid, utilizing both the iPhone’s tilt function as well as the touch screen. Your car automatically drives for you, so your main considerations are steering (accomplished by tilting the iPhone to and fro) and braking or slowing down (accomplished by tapping on the touch screen). When you have a car outfitted with nitro you can engage it by swiping your finger up the screen. Lastly, you can enter speedbreaker mode, where the world slows down around you, allowing you to weave through a dangerous spot with ease, by pulling your finger down the screen.

Overall the controls work well enough once you get the hang of them, though I think using the touch screen to turn and the tilt feature to brake may have been a better option for smoother control. As it is you can’t adjust the controls in any way, so you’ll have to get used to what’s there.

The music is a prominent collection of rock music which goes well with the hard charging racing. The sound effects are also done well, with crashes and screeching tires sounding just right.

I wasn’t quite as enamoured with Undercover as I have been with past NFS games, but Undercover is a solid and good looking racing game for the iPhone that racing fans will likely get a lot of mileage out of.

Pros:

• Beautiful graphics
• Large areas to race through and explore
• Good selection of cars and upgrades

Cons:

• Adjustable controls would’ve been preferable
• Horrendous cinemas
• No online play

Score: 8/10

Price: $6.99

Need for Speed Undercover on iTunes

Super Monkey Ball is the iPhone version of the popular Gamecube racing game series, which later saw spinoffs on the GBA, Xbox, PS2, Wii, DS, and Nokia N-Gage. For gamers who haven’t played a game in the series, think of the classic Marble Madness series. Super Monkey Ball was released on launch day, and unsurprisingly was the top selling game at launch.

Your poor monkey, encased as he is in a ball (we’ll call him bubble monkey – Seinfeld fans will get it), must traverse the treacherous levels as quickly as possible. You’re not racing against other competitors (though this would be a great, and utterly wild addition), you’re simply racing to the goal as quickly as possible.

Much like Marble Madness, the control is tricky to get used to and is not at all like a car-style racing game, as you don’t get immediate results from your actions. It’s almost like controlling someone on an ice rink. The speed at which your monkey is travelling will affect how wildly he turns, and how easily he can slow down. In this respect the game creates a perfect balance between speed and accuracy, forcing you to push yourself to your limits to achieve top times, while staying within a range that you can control. Did I forget to mention that there are ledges which you can fall from pretty much all over the levels, and doing so results in an anguished wail from your monkey and a loss of one of his lives? Yep, no one said it would be easy.

Also scattered throughout the 110 levels (many of which must be unlocked) are bananas which can be picked up, and enough bananas adds an extra life to bubble monkey. Bananas are the also the means needed to unlock new worlds, as you’ll have to collect all the bananas on a world to unlock the next. This will force players to replay the same stages multiple times, and coupled with the occasionally finicky controls, may cause some gamers fits. As a gamer who grew up with Marble Madness (much harder than any Super Monkey Ball game) I was loving the challenge, and had a blast playing through all the levels, and not just because they’re challenging.

Super Monkey Ball has some brilliant graphics, still some of the nicest seen on the platform despite it being one of the oldest games out there. The 3-D environments are colourful and detailed, and the viewing distance is excellent. With the large number of levels there are certainly some duds in level design and looks, but on the whole this is a great looking game. Your monkey too is cute as can be, and there are 4 different ones to choose from, each offering slightly different parameters.

Controlling bubble monkey is accomplished entirely through tilting of the iPhone, and will likely take some practice to get used to. I personally didn’t have much difficulty getting the hang of it, but a steady hand is definitely necessary, as the tilting is set at such a level that it will pick up even the slightest tilts, with more aggressive tilts resulting in massive turns. While others have complained that it’s too sensitive, I think for games that require precise controls like SMB, this is really the only way to go. You simply can’t accurately reproduce larger tilts to the same degree as you can smaller ones.

If you like racing games and love a challenge, you should not let this monkey pass you by. Despite the lack of any additional modes, there’s more than enough content here to keep gamers busy for a long time. This is one of my favourite iPhone games and comes highly recommended.

Pros

• Incredible mix of challenge and fun
• Outstanding graphics
• Tons of levels to play through

Cons

• Controls can be tricky to get the hang of

Price: $5.99

Score: 9.5/10

Super Monkey Ball on iTunes