Firemint's Real Racing was already one of the most buzzed-about iPhone apps, but the extra screen real estate and speedier processor gives Real Racing HD for the iPad much more room to shine, resulting in a true showcase title for Apple's new tablet.
Both compared to the iPhone version and taken on its own, Real Racing HD impresses with crisp environments, detailed vehicles, and a (mostly) fluid frame rate. Whether you prefer to tail the car or experience the action from within your virtual vehicle, the high-def bump results in a much more immersive experience, with a great sense of speed on the higher levels.
The visual upgrade would be for naught if paired with shaky controls, but Real Racing HD again shines in this regard, with responsive, nuanced tilt movements used to guide your vehicle. Whether you prefer auto-acceleration and a heavy-handed brake assist or complete control of your driving destiny, Real Racing HD lets you tweak each scheme to your liking, and you can even ditch the tilt controls completely for a couple of touch-based options.
Real Racing HD's lengthy career mode will keep you busy for some time, with multiple vehicle and speed classes to conquer, or you can tee up individual races or time trials against ghost cars. While the game sadly lacks true online play -- something we'd hope to see added in an update -- you can enter online league matches (where each player aims for the best time on selected tracks) or face other local players in either the iPad or iPhone/iPod Touch versions of the game. Plus, you can use saved media on your iPad to personalize the experience with custom soundtracks or create one-of-a-kind car skins based on your saved photos and images.
Though the core content is the same, Real Racing HD's iPad upgrade makes it an even stronger app than before, resulting in one of the best gaming experiences on the device to date. Get used to these screens -- we bet you'll be seeing Real Racing HD a whole lot more once Apple starts putting third-party apps in its iPad ads.
Real Racing HD
COMPANY: Firemint
CONTACT: www.firemint.com
PRICE: $9.99
REQUIREMENTS: iPad
Sharp, detailed visuals with a great sense of speed. Excellent tilt controls that can be significantly tweaked (or swapped for touch controls). Lengthy career mode with a dozen tracks. Custom soundtracks and car skins.
No online play. Can't tweak custom car skins.
