This game is EPIC. This is the same title that you are free to play on many popular Flash games sites, except optimized and made all the more amazing for your iPhone.

Monster Trucks Nitro 2 ($0.99)

This is one game that is a natural pick for iPhone, and really excels and improves upon the original (also an iPhone game) both graphically and in gameplay. This is one $0.99 that you WILL NOT regret parting with. Explanation below.

Presentation

This game is your stereotypical Flash “tilty-bike” physics racer, which is both a good and bad thing. This will repulse many people, by being “too simple” or over used genre, but it is ideal for this platform’s unique control methods, and really pushes the graphical horsepower in the iPhone. This game is very beautifully made, and transcends the barrier between Flash and iPhone beautifully. However, this game has some issues when played on the iPad, glitching and convoluting at times.

Controls

The controls are a sleek combination of touch and tilt, with controls appearing only when needed. You can slide your finger along the bottom of the screen to go from reverse, to idle, or full speed. Once you are done changing your speed and direction, these controls fade to a small nodule. You tilt left and right to change your truck’s tilt, and to do flips. These controls are very simple and logical, and really redefine the way that these types of games should behave on the iPhone.

Gameplay

The gameplay is simple, but very deep. In each individual level, you must outpace a ghost driver to the finish, in order to receive prize money, so that you can buy into a new race. You have dozens of levels, which can be progressed through, driving a multitude of vehicles. This is nearly identical to the online Flash version, but the graphics are far better.

By having a lone platform with stable and predictable hardware, it makes it easier to give the game great graphics on the bleeding edge. And RedLynx did just that, by taking into the third dimension, something that is rare, and unnecessary, but very effective, and breaking away from the original. The original was a nearly complete 2D game, but this adds the 3D animations and views that accentuate and push the game forward.

Suggestions

2D mode. Combine the original Monster Trucks Nitro into this game, and simplify the options. iPad compatibility. I’m not asking for it to be 1024×768, just for it to run correctly at 320×480.

Online gaming social network. This would be perfect for Plus+ (or Game Centre moving forward) achievements.

Conclusion

Monster Trucks Nitro 2 is a worthy update for the original version on the iPhone. It is vastly graphically superior, and adds several levels for hours of play. If you love this genre of games online, you’d be crazy not to try this, at only $0.99.