Game review: Sequel to Hill Climb Racing is a treat to play

One of the charms of gaming on smartphones is that you come across rare gems from time to time. Some of the games such as Flappy Bird and MMM Fingers are simple yet immensely fun to play. One such game is Hill Climb Racing, a simple endless car driving game that requires the user to drive a car on a hilly terrain without toppling or breaking the neck. Spurred by its popularity, the game’s developer Fingersoft, a Finnish start-up, has now released its sequel Hill Climb Racing 2.

Available as a free download in Android and iOS, the new game is not just a visually richer game but also marks a shift from the endless driving genre to the racing genre.

Read more here: Game review: F1 2016 for Android and iOS is a first-time wonder

Improved graphics

The game sticks to the same side-angel view on the car moving on a hilly terrain. Only, this time, the graphics no longer look flat. It looks a lot more happening and lively. The presence of houses, trees and farms in the background and animals grazing in front of the hill gives it the look and feel of a three dimensional game. The cars look a lot more detailed too. Even the controls look a lot bigger and animated. Though control was never an issue with the game as it was more about understanding the mechanics of how the car will land from a certain height at a certain speed.

New gameplay

The departure from being an endless driving game to a multi-player racing game is quite impressive. The races are short but the terrain continues to be testing and treacherous as the predecessor. The gameplay is difficult but a lot more fun. The matches are really close as the racing tracks are short and the way the cars behave is also totally different. Over speeding at a slope can topple your car backwards.

The game requires an active internet connection for the Cup mode where most of the action lies. In case you are offline, you can still play in the adventure mode. This is a stand-alone mode where you can hone your skills and acquire more gold coins or gems, which can come in handy for upgrading or redesigning your existing car or buy a better car to compete better with rivals. You can speed up your progress by using real cash on in-app purchases. The basic pack starts at Rs20 and goes up to Rs990.

Verdict?

Hill Climb Racing 2 is a perfect time killer for racing fans who don’t have the time, patience or a powerful smartphone to play a full-fledged racing game like Real Racing 3 or F1 2016. The fact that Hill Climb Racing 2 is free to play and takes up only 121 MB after installation makes it perfect for casual gamers.

Developed by Fingersoft

Free (In-app purchases Rs20 to Rs990)

Available on Google Play Store, App Store

Tested on OnePlus One (Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor, 3GB RAM, Adreno 330 graphics, 64GB storage)