Crime Spree Review

I’m not sure what it was about Rally-X that kept me coming back for more. That game has been around forever and every time I see it in some retro arcade or come out on one of those “greatest hits” cartridges, I eagerly run to play it. The game was simple, fun, and easy to play, plus it had a nice sense of speed&#8230- and car crashes. In its day it might just have been the perfect game (at least on my list).

I realized a little while ago that I hadn’t played it in a long time and I actually found one of my Namco classic discs to fire it up. It was just as fun. And I wondered how long it would take for someone to get a good version of this on the App Store.

Low and behold, just a few weeks after that I have one in my hands. “Crime Spree” by Skyworks finally gives me what I was wanting. No I should mention that I was a little worried. Skyworks’ games are hit an miss, and I always love seeing that the first four or five reviews they get on the App Store all come from the same people (and all positive). But they have had some good games so I dove in.

First off, if you’ve never played a Rally-X game here’s the rundown. You are driving a car around a map that has several different twists and streets trying to pick up flags that are randomly placed around the grid. You’re being hunted down by other cars that have one way of stopping you &#8211- crashing into you. You have a smoke screen that can throw them off for a while, but really the only thing you can do is keep driving and avoid the bad guys.

Crime Spree is basically the same game with a few updates. The flags have been replaced by bags of money &#8211- it seems you’ve been hired by the mob to pick up some money that they left lying around. The other cars are now police cars (nice touch), and the smoke screen is now an oil slick. Oh, and the bland track that was Rally-X is now a much more fully realized neighborhood.

All in all, an upgrade all around.

The graphics are really quite good. As I mentioned, Rally-X was pretty basic and Crime Spree ups things with it look. Everything moves very smoothly and keeps the feeling of speed. I really like this update.

One of the things I was really worried about was how they would handle the radar. You see, you need to know where the money bags and cops are, and that’s where the radar comes in. I was worried that the small screen on the iDevice would make it tough to have a radar screen but Skyworks did a great job with this. Sure it’s small, but it does the job, and it also moves from side to side if the car is too far to one side. Very nice.

Sound is basic, but works, and is done with a nice bit of polish.

The controls were another thing I was worried about. Rally-X had the joystick and the button for the smoke. How was it going to work here? Skyworks gives you three options on the controls. You can either tap, tilt, or swipe the direction you want to turn, Of the three I found swiping to be the best option since you can do this on any part of the screen. Tapping sometimes didn’t work as I wasn’t tapping in exactly the right spot and I found the same thing with tilting, but once you get it down you can handle all three with ease&#8230- I just found the one I liked and then stuck with it.

There are two modes with the game, Arcade and Survival. Both are pretty much what you’d imagine. Arcade works just like the&#8230- uh&#8230- arcade version of Rally-X &#8211- where you get all the bags to move to the next level. And Survival means that you keep driving around trying to&#8230- uh&#8230- survive. Both are fun.

Skyworks also took the time to throw in very good scoreboards. Both local and global boards can be found and both handle the two modes.

Basically I can’t find any real fault with the game. That comes form a guy who has played thousands of Rally-X games and has been a fan for decades. I have to give a big thanks to Skyworks on this one and highly recommend this game to anyone who shares my love for the Rally&#8230- or anyone who is just looking for a good game to pick up and play (which should be just about everyone who’s reading this).

The Good

Great Rally-X Update
Radar Screen Works Well
Global Scores

The Bad

Controls Take A Little Getting Used Too
Screen Might Be Too busy