Rally Master Pro review

Peter Gibbons

We review Rally Master Pro, Fishlabs's stab at a rally game for iPhone, complete with realistic physics and terrain effects

Published on Oct 26, 2009

The most important thing to consider with Fishlabs’ stunning looking iPhone adaptation of the mobile driving hit, Rally Master Pro, is that this is a rally game. Sounds obvious I know, but mostly we’re used to seeing multi-car track races, and that’s not what Rally Master Pro is all about.

The roads are quite lonely for a rally driver, as the races are performed asynchronously and timed by meeting checkpoints, rather than pitting your motor directly against another car, neck and neck. It’s a small but very important difference to the racing dynamic, and if you approach Rally Master Pro hoping for a new version of Firemint’s Real Racing, for example, you could find yourself unnecessarily disappointed.

But because there’s only ever one car on the track, the iPhone’s resources are freed up to provide all manner of technical enhancements unique to this beautiful looking game. Each wheel is governed by individual physics systems, while a particle engine provides real-time reactions to the road and weather. And rest assured it runs as smooth on the iPhone 3G as any of the other iDevices.

Hurtling around those narrow courses offers a noticeably different experience – first you’ll be driving on tarmac, only to be plunged onto a dirt track in the rain. Indeed, driving on solid, dry roads feels almost dull after you’ve tasted the invigorating danger of power sliding on mud, or ice.

This change in the road surfaces is a massive part of Rally Master Pro’s appeal, since cornering on asphalt is quite slow, with time easily made up on the straights, but drifting on mud makes the corners at once precarious and fast, while keeping a straight course on the slick dirt is no easy task.

Another feature Fishlabs has managed to work into Rally Master Pro is a deformable car. Prang your expensive motor and it both shows and feels the damage. At times, the bonnet will slap backwards onto the windscreen then disappear behind you as it breaks away.

Every knock and bump affects the performance of your car, so keeping to the tracks isn’t just about speed. Optional mini-games are included for carrying out repairs, which isn’t vital to the game’s enjoyment, but definitely doesn’t harm it, either.

A downside of all this realism is that Rally Master Pro is very unforgiving. The tracks are incredibly narrow, and straying onto the verge even slightly (which you’ll do a lot) is like driving through warm toffee and causes minor, but crucial, damage to your car. Should you really go off kilter and turn the car around, or run headlong into a wall, recovery is quite tedious and means you’ve no hope of salvaging that particular race, as the other racer’s times are so tight.