Asphalt 9: Your Virtual Window into Arcade Racing!

Are you a sucker for arcade racing games but are bored of dull visuals and slacking controls? Are you in search of a game that not only makes up for these things but is much more than an arcade game? Well, look no further, we’ve got you covered with an impressive arcade game that will keep you hooked to your mobile screens for hours.

The atmosphere of an arcade game is created by a combination of sensations that mainly revolve around loud engine noises, screeching tires, the thrill of speed, and the feeling that you’re on the very brink of losing control at almost every turn. It looks like Asphalt 9 not only understands these sensations but also works its way well towards enhancing the overall user experience through them.

After a brief fling with one of the supercars you’re trying to unlock, you’re dropped into the lower leagues of the street racing world. There you’re given a car and a bit of money, using this you need to work your way up to the top of the fastest driver tree. The default controls are quite simple to grasp. However, steering and acceleration are no longer in your hands leaving you to concentrate on things like drifting, pulling off jumps, and using nitros.

This does not narrow the game's scope as there are still multiple branching paths on each track which you can switch to with a swipe while you’re using the default controls. While the objective here is to win each season of races, however, thankfully you won’t just be jostling for pole position in every event. From being tasked with escaping the cops to beating the clock for the best timing of completing stunts galore, there’s enough variety to keep the user going.

The game includes a steady number of unlocks such as acquiring upgrades that can improve your car's handling and speed capabilities, as well as blueprints to get new rides, and new events, which are available at regular intervals. The visuals here are highly appeasing, be it minute details like dust kicked off by your tires on an American midwest rail road track to highly detailed car models, everything looks fantastic. The races in asphalt 9 take you from the snowy Himalayas to sunny Cairo with pyramids in the background, to Shanghai by night and the afore-mentioned American midwest 2.

The game’s touch drive control option lets the user swipe the screen like in temple run. The touch drive lets you decide the direction in which your car should be going and allows you to avoid obstacles, jump ramps, or ramp into your opponents along the way. However, one area in which Asphalt 9 differs from its predecessors is the rate at which the user acquires new cars. This is because collecting new cars isn’t a piece of cake here, since they don’t come as a reward after completing an event, instead, the user gets a blueprint that is basically a part of some new car.

The game includes micro transactions which are an amalgam of cars, blueprints, and upgrades. There are three kinds of in-game currencies: tokens and credits while a third currency is earned by trading blueprints one doesn’t need. Although, none of these are particularly substantial for getting new cars.

Earning new cars depends on the number of blueprints you acquire through races. There are three kinds of controls. Each control system comes with its fair share of pros and cons but whichever you chose, you’re going to have an immersive experience as you plow through sky scrappers, dodge enormous waves and try and hit those jump weak spots just right.

The best part about the game is the impressive maps, that further add to the overall gaming experience. Each of your cars comes with its own gas tank, which when empty you’ll have to wait for it to refill and meanwhile use some other vehicle or buy some more gas, instead.

Overall it’s a fairly balanced game of skid and flying that makes one feel like a stunt car racer from the get-go.