Light Racer 3D Review

**ewdi** · 01-21-2010, 01:40 PM

As gaming inspiration goes, Tron makes for a pretty decent start. The classic sci-fi film is best known for its futuristic racing scenes, and that's what Light Racer 3D for Android offers: high-speed gaming either against an automated opponent or with two nearby friends with their own Android phones.

Control is either via the touchscreen or the trackball/D-pad, tapping left or right or scrolling to change direction. Physically tilting the phone allows you to look from side to side, useful since the arena is constantly filling up with the light-trails you and your competitors leave behind. Various power-ups litter the arena - including speed boost, trail-clearing and temporary invulnerability to collisions - and there are multiple single-player modes which place limits on either number of lives or time to complete a level.

More fun, perhaps, is the multiplayer mode; right now there's no online gaming, but Light Racer 3D allows you to join a WiFi network with two other players for local challenges. The 3D graphics aren't the best we've seen on a mobile device, but on the flip side they'll run just fine even on a first-gen T-Mobile G1; you don't need a DROID or a Nexus One in order to support the visuals. Theme-wise it's all pleasingly arcade/retro, just like Tron itself, and the sound effects are decent. Some differentiation in bike noise would be better, however, or at least the ability to selectively shut that off while keeping the rest of the effects active.

Light Racer 3D is available in the Android Market for $2.49 (along with a Lite version). It's a fun time-waster for brief moments of gameplay, and the ability to play local multiplayer challenges and create custom games (with mixtures of mapping, players and difficulty settings) add longevity.

Update: Price changed to $2.49 from $3.99