Sure, it's all fun and games until your car slams into a concrete wall at 236 kph.

Before you plunk down your money on Fastlane Street Racing, a lovely looking arcade-style racer, ask yourself this question: Do you want to have fun, or do you want to spend a maddening amount of time mastering a technique called "drifting?"

Really, it's okay if you chose "maddening." Some players find the current crop of racing games too easy, something Fastlane definitely isn't. In most of the game's dozen tracks, sharp corners appear almost out of nowhere, and if you don't turn exactly right--meaning a sharp tilt of your iPhone "steering wheel" to cause a skid--you'll smack headlong into a wall. Because this is an arcade racer, you car incurs no damage, so you can wall-smack all you want without any consequence except falling behind.

So it boils down to this: If you get good at drifting, you stand a chance of winning races and challenges. If not, Fastlane quickly gets frustrating, to the point where you'll probably abandon it for the more forgiving circuits of, say, Crash Bandicoot.

For those who stick it out, however, Fastlane has a lot to offer. It looks gorgeous. It offers 10 cars, each with a different top speed, balance, and cornering characteristics. It has three gameplay modes: arcade, time trial, and challenge (which itself has three modes). And it can use your own tunes as a soundtrack, provided you start them playing before you load the game.

At most, you'll race against three opponents, with very little traffic to worry about. This helps make for silky-smooth frame rates, but it also makes life in the Fastlane a little dull. Ultimately, the game is about speed, and while you do get the sensation of driving insanely fast, it all feels a little empty.

Fastlane Street Racing can be deeply frustrating, but it rewards persistent players with gorgeous visuals and varied gameplay.

Fastlane Street Racing 1.0
COMPANY: Atod AB
CONTACT: www.fastlanestreetracing.com
PRICE: $5.99
REQUIREMENTS: iPhone or iPod touch with 2.0 software update.
One of the best-looking iPhone racers to date. Lots of variety in gameplay, cars, and courses. Sweet interface. Supports custom soundtracks. You can unlock tracks just by finishing a race--you don't have to win.
Unforgiving accelerometer controls. Some cars are just plain impossible to steer, even if you do master drifting. You get little warning of upcoming turns.