X-Plane 9 Review

X-Plane 9 offers a highly detailed flight simulator for the iPod Touch and iPhone. There are 6 aircrafts to choose from and 3 different regions. In each region you get a few airports.

The 6 aircrafts are:

1. Cessna 172
2. Columbia 400
3. Piper Malibu
4. Cirrus Vision
5. Piaggio Avanti
6. Beech King-Air

The 4 different Regions are:

1. Innsbruck
2. Hawaii
3. So-Cal (Southern California)
4. San-Fran (San-Fransisco)

In the settings menu, as I have said before, you can choose from 4 regions and 6 aeroplanes. Besides that, you can also adjust the weight of your aeroplane; so called the loading. The time of the day can also be adjusted, you can choose from 4 different day to night settings. Then goes the Sky and the wind. In the Sky mode, you get to choose the height of the cloud bases, the visibility on your aircraft and also the actual weather, (eg.) rainy, cloudy, foggy, etc. In the wind mode you get to adjust the wind speed, wind direction and also the turbulence, and I personally think that this is pretty amazing because in such a small device you can do the amazing things you can now do on the Flight Simulator X on the PC. There is actually one thing in the settings I havn't mentioned yet, and it is the 'Set' function. In this function, you can calibarate the built-in Accelerometer for this game and also adjust the volume. 

Although there are a lot of good things, that doesn't mean there aren't any bad things. There are a few things I don't like about this game. The first thing is that during the night, there are no landing lights nor even strobe lights. The second thing is, when you are currently using the HUD (Head-Up Display) mode, then you suddenly want to change to the exterior view just to look at your perfect touch-down, it doesn't return to the same position as before. It returns to the default position which is very zoomed in to the plane and that is useless. These are a few of the bad things I have found out so far, when you get to get your hands on one, maybe you can comment and tell us about it.

Overall this game deserves a 9.5/10

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Ferrari GT: Evolution

Ferrari FXX Evoluzione

The Ferrari GT: Evolution is the newest racing game produced by the intelligent people from the Gameloft. This game is a Ferrari Official Licensed Product. It is a bit similar to the Asphalt 4: Elite Racing I reviewed previously, for example the 3 control methods, graphics and the multiplayer; but there also are a lot of differences. It features 33 authentic Ferrari Cars.

The 33 Ferrari Cars Featured:

1. Testarossa
2. Enzo Ferrari
3. 599 GTB Fiorano
4. Ferrari California
5. 250 GTO
6. F430 Scuderia
7. F355 Berlinetta
8. 328 GTS
9. F430
10. F40
11. GTO
12. Dino 246 GT
13. F50
14. 575M Maranello
15. 360 Modena
16. 208 GTS
17. 308 GTBi
18. 308 GTS
19. 308 GTSi
20. 328GTB
21. 348 GTS
22. F355 GTS
23. F355 Challenge
24. 275 GTB Competizione
25. F430 Spider
26. F430 Challenge
27. F430 GTC
28. 512 TR
29. F512M
30. FXX Evoluzione
31. F40 Competizione
32. ??Not sure
33. ??Not Sure

Gameloft states that there will be an online multiplayer where you can challenge racers all around the world; after this update, it will be even more fun.

The career mode in this game is pretty fun, and you actually have to buy the cars, unlike Asphalt where you get to the level and it gets unlocked automatically.

The Ferrari Electronic Stability System is also featured in this game when you double tap the middle of the screen during a race, you can choose from: Traction, Snow, Sport, Race, and CST OFF. 

Overall, this game deserves a 98/100. It lost its two marks because occasionally it gets a bit laggy, but after a second its gone. This is a very small problem and will be solved after a software update.

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Asphalt 4: Elite Racing

Bugatti Veyron Racing at 575km/h

Asphalt 4: Elite Racing is a phenomenal iPod Touch game; actually, it might be the best. The producer of this game is the very famous mobile game company Gameloft. It contains 28 licensed cars ranging from 14 manufacturers.

The 28 cars is as follows(1st=cheapest and slowest 28=Most Expensive and Fastest):

1. Mini Cooper S
2. Nissan 350Z
3. Mercedes-Benz SLK55 AMG
4. BMW M3
5. Chevrolet Corvette
6. Ducati Monster 696 (Motorbike)
7. Nissan Skyline GTR
8. BMW Z4M
9. Aston Martin Vantage
10. Lotus Exige S
11. RUF RGT (Modified Porsche 911 GT3)
12. Kawasaki Z1000 (Motorbike)
13. Nissan GT-R
14. BMW M6
15. Merecedes-Benz SL63 AMG
16. Aston Martin DB9
17. Ferrari F430 Spider
18. Corvette ZR1
19. Ford Mustang FR500
20. Kawasaki ZX-10 R
21. Ferrari 599 GTB
22. Aston Martin DBS
23. Ford GT
24. Ferrari F430 Scuderia
25. Mercedes-Benz CLK
26. Ferrari Enzo
27. Ducati 1098 (Motorbike)
28. Bugatti Veyron

 This game has a very good UI (User Interface) where you can browse the cars with ease and also make improvements too. There are 3 control methods which you can choose from.

The 3 Control Methods:

1. Using the Accelerometer
2. A virtual Steering Wheel
3. Tapping the screen

Another function I havn't mentioned is the multiplayer. When hooked up to a Wi-Fi Signal, you can race your friend or someone thats hooked up to the same Wi-Fi connection. Usually, multiplayer contains a lot of laggy images on the screen, but theres none present in this one.

Overall, this game deserves 95/100. Why didn't it get full marks; because of the (GIRLS) function which I hate. This function doesn't make any sense and its a waste of time for us petrolheads which just love cars and racing.

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