Gamer reviews for Smashy Road: Wanted
No Train to Follow
I tried playing the first Smashy Road title just to get the feel of it, and I did not like it. I never had high hopes for Smashy Road: Wanted after that experience. However, I was surprised that the follow-up game is a much better experience, improving in lots of areas and wildly differentiating its gameplay from the original.
It is pretty obvious that Smashy Road: Wanted is inspired by the Grand Theft Auto series, at least the early titles. “Busted” and “Wasted” are words used by Smashy Road: Wanted in describing “Game Over" just like the Grand Theft Auto series. The gameplay too with the premise of being chased around the city by cops is clearly a Grand Theft Auto nod.
Smashy Road: Wanted is free to play with in-app purchase options if you want to buy specific cars. You will eventually get all of these cars if you play this game faithfully, however, it will take a lot of time. There is an in-game cash that you can earn through playing the game and watching ads. Also, the developers are kind enough to send you random gifts that may contain in-game cash, however, you cannot buy all the cars outright. Instead, you will have to pay 100 in-game cash to use the slot machine. There you will have the chance to win a new vehicle. Cars are divided into four categories: Common, Rare, Epic, and Legendary. Common cars can be bought for $0.99, Rare for $1.99, Epic for $2.99 and Legendary cars can cost up to $3.99. There is also an advertisement overlay every time you finish a session.
Smashy Road: Wanted is an amazing game to play because of its simple yet effective control scheme. You only have to steer right and left, tapping both sides of your screen. The cars automatically reverse when they hit an immovable object, but you do have to press either direction to do this. The game is all about surviving the cops, you just have to outrun and out-maneuver them. You gain notoriety when the cops can’t catch up with you, with the latter sending more cars and beefier vehicles to mow you down. You can go off the road to send them to in disarray, or evade them outright in the streets, sending them crashing into civilian cars.
This game has longevity because no single session plays the same. The cars control differently, they have different endurance, turn rate, acceleration, and max speed. Not only that, they also have thematic characteristics. For example, the Classy Car (Common) is a slow as molasses vehicle but you get to play the game in black-and-white with prominent vignette on your screen. Yeah, you are going to go down fast, but at least you are doing it in style!
Graphics is amazing with it pseudo-retro 3D art direction. The animations are smooth, and won’t play sluggish on your phones even though there is a physics engine running. The game has minimal sound effects, only the car engine, sirens, and crashes are obvious whilst playing. There is no background music that will annoy you after countless loops.
Smashy Road: Wanted is a must download. It is free, but more importantly, it is just fun to play in short bursts. You can also play this for hours without getting tired of it. There are things to discover within the game, either because of the cars extra features or the randomly-generated city’s hidden treasures. You will get all the cars eventually, as there is no pressing need for you to pay for the cars. But if you cannot wait, you can always buy the Legendary cars because they are difficult to win via slot machine. It will be worth whichever you choose, because the core gameplay is one of the best, if not the best, when it comes to mobile arcade racing.