I as a big fan of “Project Gotham Racing” (PGR to its friends). And that’s the biggest understatement I’ve made in a long time. I was a big fan of its progenitor, “Metropolis Street Racer”, on the Dreamcast. When the Dreamcast died, I looked at the big pile of unfinished (and even entirely unplayed) games, and decided to sit out the next generation of systems (PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube). And yet, the night before the Xbox’s launch, I decided to race down the next morning and buy an Xbox and a copy of PGR. I never regretted it, I played that game for hundreds of hours, most of it on the original “Duke” controller since… well, that’s what was available then. I bought PGR2 the day it came out, and ditto with PGR3 and the Xbox 360 I needed to play it. So yes, I’m a big PGR fan and, yes, that’s an understatement.
“Racing Wings” feeds that part of my brain that loved PGR. That loved PGR, and played the game for hundreds of hours. For those who haven’t played it, there’s very little actual “racing” in Project Gotham Racing, unless you count racing your previous bests. A small percentage of PGR’s levels involve actual racing, with most of them focusing on racing with style and daring, for which you are awarded “Kudos”. “Racing Wings” similarly focuses not on the titular racing, but on flying through courses with style, striving to set new personal bests. You must navigate the courses by hitting coloured markers in the correct order, and different markers may force you to go through in different orientations (vertical, or horizontal). The game does a really good job of rewarding those who don’t just keep the accelerator locked down the entire time, as that will slow you down through the tighter sections.
If you liked MSR, or PGR, or even the licence tests in Gran Turismo, then this game is an easy recommendation. It costs $4.99, or some similar amount that used to equal 400 Microsoft Points, which is steep by XBLIG standards, but the production values are solid and the gameplay is great for those who like this sort of thing.
Here’s what the developer (pncil) has to say about the game:
“Download Racing Wings and join the international competition where the most experienced pilots combine speed and spectacular stunts in a extreme race for the number one. Test your reflexes and precision to overcome obstacles, unlock the tracks and improve your plane to get your golden wings. Are you ready?”
Writings of Mass Deduction 