Dream Track Nation Review: Race from Texas to the moon on Windows Phone

Dream Rail Nation and Tiny Airplane (two games from Canadian indie developer PowPow Games) arrived on Xbox Windows Phone simultaneously a few months back. Electronic Arts' indie characterization Chillingo publishes both games, which originated as Nokia exclusives but are at present available to all users.

Seeing as how we reviewed Tiny Airplane last week, I thought information technology only plumbing fixtures that we take a critical lens to its brother Dream Rail Nation likewise. Is this physics-based racer really a dream or more of a nightmare? Read on to find out.

Race to the flag

Dream Track Nation falls into an uncommon genre: the 2-dimensional side-view racing game. The most similar Xbox Windows Phone game is Miniclip'south iStunt 2, but other than the viewpoint, these two titles could hardly exist more unlike. The chief difference existence that this one is way more than "indie," which we'll explicate as we go along.

In Dream Track Nation, players race from the starting flag to the stop flag in large, fanciful courses. The tracks are full of twists, turns, loops, and bottomless pits to contend with. Your vehicle can survive all fashion of crashes and flips, but fall out of the course and y'all neglect the race.

Ii ways to play

The game offers four unique environments to race through: Texas, Alaska, New York, and the Moon. Each location has 20 tracks, for a total of lxxx different tracks. The four areas all have their own background tunes too.

These tracks tin can be played in two separate modes: Time Trial and Star Hunt. Switch between them with the buttons at the top of the surface area selection screen. Unlocking tracks in one mode does not unlock them in the other; each manner'southward progress remains separate from the other.

In Fourth dimension Trial, the objective is to accomplish the red finish flag equally quickly every bit possible. Depending on your performance, you'll receive a bronze, silver, or gilded medal. Annoyingly, the game doesn't tell you what medal you got at the end of the race. Instead, players have to back out to the level select menu in order to meet their medals. Tiny Plane suffered from some UI issues too, but the medal consequence here interrupts the flow of the game more than.

Initially Dream Track Nation launched with just the Fourth dimension Trial Fashion. But Star Chase was added presently thereafter in an update. Star Hunt allows players to explore tracks without worrying nearly a timer. The goal is withal to reach the ruddy flag, but players also demand to collect stars hidden throughout each runway. The number of stars you collect determines which medal you receive.

Rough riding

The controls are a bit more circuitous than iStunt 2's, but withal actually unproblematic. Touching anywhere on the right side of the screen causes your car/truck/etc. to move to the right, while pressing left causes the vehicle to motion in opposite and to the left. Tilting the phone controls the angle of the vehicle, and then yous can arrange its rotation in mid-air in society to land more smoothly.

Of course, these dream tracks are filled with bumps and situations that will prevent you from landing smoothly at times, causing the vehicle to flip over. In fact, sometimes the vehicle flips onto its back for no reason considering the tilt controls are extremely wonky. Getting your ride back on its wheels ends up beingness kind of random, which stinks. I'd happily merchandise the tilt controls for a push button to instantly set the vehicle right.

Physics for dummies

The semi-busted flipping foreshadows an even worse problem: the physics. Dream Track Nation is a physics-based game, and so naturally its physics are kind of of import. Unfortunately they fall well short of expectations. Hitting obstacles at odd angles tin really crusade the vehicle'south and its wheels to wrap Around the obstacle. Once that happens, you lot pretty much have to restart the level.

The fourth set of tracks takes place on the moon, but all 4 areas essentially feel similar they're in space. Vehicles bounce and bladder around the tracks unpredictably and unrealistically, by and large limiting players' controls and slowing them downwardly. The game's far from unplayable, but it feels like an alpha version every bit opposed to a finished release.

Garage

Whereas the boosted vehicles in Tiny Airplane cost golden coins to unlock, you'll proceeds vehicles automatically as y'all complete levels in Dream track Nation. Players beginning out in cars but eventually gain an assortment of trucks and motorcycles to drive besides.

The vehicles seem to accept unlike stats, only they're hidden from the player. Generally, small rides like bikes go faster while larger trucks are more than stable. Stability is mode more important in this game, so I wouldn't carp with the motorcycles.

Rail editor

I of Dream Track Nation'south coolest features is undoubtedly the ability to create tracks and share them online. The simply other Xbox Windows Phone game I know of that allows players to share their created content is Astonishing Alex.

The actual level editor interface, notwithstanding, is about every bit intuitive equally completing a tax class. Players will have to figure out what all the buttons do and how to motility objects effectually on their own, because the game sure doesn't offering any help. Y'all do at to the lowest degree get an Achievement for creating your offset runway.

Confusing or no, some people have obviously figured the editor out because you lot tin detect a fair quantity of tracks to try. They download most instantly, also. To play your ain custom or downloaded tracks, await to the bottom of the area select screen.

Achievements

Whereas Tiny Plane's Achievements are fourth dimension consuming and grindy, Dream Track Nation's should only take near four hours or so to get. Several where broken at launch, but PowPow Games commendably stock-still them very quickly with an update.

The vast majority of Achievements involve completing every track and winning gold medals on every rails. Yous'll need to decide whether to become for the golds in Time Trial or Star Chase mode, because all of the golds demand to be earned in the same mode for the final Accomplishment.

Bold y'all stick to Time Trial, the completion times can be kind of strict. The busted physics and tilting often screwed upwards my runs. But tracks are but about a minute long, so retrying them multiple times won't exist too much of an ordeal. Sometimes you'll even get lucky and grab a gilded on your starting time endeavour.

Overall Impression

I hate to be difficult on a game, but it's tough to do anything else when a championship's core mechanics don't work right. Dream Track Nation is a short and simple game hampered by terrible, terrible physics. Maybe they worked great on iOS and suffered in the conversion to Windows Phone. The game would certainly exist a lot more fun if vehicles didn't flip over and then much and float around in the air when they should be falling.

This version's saving grace is its relatively easy Achievements. Any game that tin be completed in less than v hours is worth a await for Achievement hunters, regardless of quality. And maybe the physics won't problems you lot as much as they did me, who knows?

• Dream Runway Nation – Windows Phone 7 or 8 – 23 MB – $2.99 – Shop Link

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Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/dream-track-nation-review

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