If Jet Car Stunts and Soosiz had a baby, it would be this sublimely unconventional and fiendishly inventive little game! Seriously, jAggy Race (out now, $0.99) feels like App Store newcomers SevenOnly smooshed the best bits of two of my all-time favorite iOS titles together to create something boldly and refreshingly different.
Playing as the game’s eponymous daredevil driver, jAggy, you race against the clock around a series of topsy-turvy, rollercoaster-style race tracks. Which would be pretty fun and challenging in itself, but – get this – as you burn rubber, you also have to wrap your head around a complete disregard for the laws of gravity and contend with tracks being riddled with elaborate Rube Goldberg-esque traps like whirring buzz saw blades, immovable barriers, and laser beams.
Belying its cartoonish looks, jAggy Race is actually a tricky game that requires quite a bit of patience and practise to master. Tight time limits mean there’s not much room for error as you hurtle around 23 brilliantly designed tracks, quickly switching between driving backwards, forwards, and even upside-down when speeding through vertigo-inducing loop-de-loops, jumping over obstacles, and dodging death-traps on the way to the finish line.
It might not be all that pick-up-and-play friendly, at least not at first, but jAggy Race is an incredibly rewarding game if you stick with it. A well observed difficulty curve, compelling action, and the fact that each track seems determined to “out-crazy” the last means this truly is one of those titles you’ll want to see through to the end. The time trial slant lends itself well to repeat playthroughs, while an individual online leaderboard for each circuit makes this a must-have for Game Center fans.
iFanzine Verdict: jAggy Race splices together DNA from the arcade racing and platforming genres with exhilerating and stupidly addictive results. A highly recommended game that marks SevenOnly as a must-watch new talent on the App Store.