January 2012 brought us “Cro-Mag Racing”, a port of the iPhone/MacOS/Windows Phone/etc. game. It was a competent racer that had a lot going for it. Before I could even review it, that 240 Microsoft Point game was pulled from the Marketplace a month later, only to be replaced by an improved 80 Microsoft Point squel: “Cro-Mag Rally® Extreme!” (complete with registered trademark icon, so that you know it’s legit, or something to that effect). Surprisingly, the upgrade is as massive as the price drop is.
The “Extreme!” version takes the competent solo karting gameplay (that has you traveling around the world and throughout different cultures and time periods) and moves it into the realm of multiplayer. Offline, system link, online, whatever flavour you want you will find it here. Controls are good, the graphics are attractive, and I prefer a gamepad over tilting a smartphone around any day (and it’s even something I could play on my smartphone if I wished, as they have released this for almost every imagineable system that’s indie-games friendly, including Windows Phone).
The “Extreme!” addition also adds 8 new multiplayer maps and, I hasten to remind you, reflects a price *drop* rather than increase. It’s always nice to see a successful commercial product in other venues migrate to Xbox Live Indie Games (and, in this case, we might thank Windows Phone for that because it’s relatively easy to do a version for one if you’ve already done a version for the other). If you’re looking for a new racer to supplement the excellent “Dirchie Kart”, then this is the one I would recommend. In fact, I think I might put it narrowly ahead of Dirchie, though it’s definitely close.
Here’s what the developer (citizen12 studio) has to say about the game:
“The Extreme! edition of the popular Kart-racing title brings an all-new UI and tons of multiplayer fun. Capture-the-Flag, Tag, and vs racing across Xbox LIVE, System Link, or even split screen! Includes 8 all-new multiplayer battle arenas. All for a special introductory price of just 80 points!”
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