iGuyReviews

I tend to go through lots of games on my iPhone. I hear about stuff coming out soon, get all excited and buy the game the instant it hits the App Store, and then nine times out of ten end up deleting the game after a day or two. The ten or so games I keep on my iPhone are therefore not the most expensive or the most hyped of the bunch, but the ones I actually enjoy playing.

One of the few games I’ve kept on my iPhone and my iPod touch since it launched is GI Joyride (App Store, $0.99 on sale - regularly $2.99). It doesn’t particularly have a lot of depth, but what it lacks in depth it more than makes up for in replayability, humor, and fun.

The goal in the game is simple: a handful of American G.I.s have escaped from a German POW camp in WWII and your job is to drive their APC, for as long and as far as possible. The game uses realistic physics and there are lots of jumps and other obstacles, which means you end up spending a lot of time in the air. You can tilt the iPhone to shift your APC’s balance front or back, and you can tap the left/right sides of the screen for brake/throttle, respectively. Using these very simple and intuitive controls, you try to keep your APC upright and moving forward for as long as you can.

Sounds simple, right? Well it would be, except that your APC tends to bounce around a lot. So keeping it from landing belly-up (an easy target for Stukas!) is actually pretty challenging. Fortunately the levels are randomly generated - you’ll never drive the same course twice! - and the graphics are top-notch, so it doesn’t get boring. The game also records various feats, so you’ve always got incentive to try again and best your previous records. Distance, speed runs, number of Nazis run over, flips performed, longest wheelie, etc - there’s plenty to keep you busy.

I mentioned humor earlier, and I wasn’t joking. (haha) Every time you finish a run, you’re presented with a closing screen which rates your driving and tells a story about what happened to the G.I.s in your APC. Crash and burn right away, and it’ll be a sob story about how the heroes were re-captured and forced to scrub the entire POW camp with toothbrushes and lye. Set some new records, and you’ll read something about their daring escape. Or maybe their attempts to dig to China. Also, when waiting for the game to load, there’s a simple yet effective picture displayed which outlines the (rather simple) controls. The developers have seen fit to include some rather helpful tips on these screens as well. Stuff like ‘Go too slow and you’ll become a target’ mixed with others like ‘That last tip was a lie.’ Classic.

In the end, GI Joyride is a simple yet surprisingly addictive game that is well worth a few dollars. It loads up quickly, making it an ideal diversion while waiting in line or riding the bus. Be sure to check it out if you haven’t already.