Asphalt: Injection

There have been a couple of racers released for the PSVita to date, but most of them have gotten some terrible reviews, for good reason.  Mod Nation Racers and Ridge Racer are both some pretty awful games, but I'm not here to talk about crap today, I want to talk about the exception of the group: Asphalt: Injection.  To be honest, I've only played the demo, so this is going to be a pretty short review that's based solely on what I've been able to experience.

Probably the most bland screen ever.

As you can see, the game doesn't look that great from a graphical perspective, and thus doesn't push the Vita to it's full potential.  It looks pretty much the same as if you were to buy it on the iOS.  It looks okay, but not what we would expect from a cutting-edge gaming system that's boasting the best handheld graphics on the market today.

The game play is similar to your normal Arcade racer.  You drive as fast as you can while alternating between drifting and boosting with the nitro you collect from pickups or "stunts" like getting air time on a jump.  The controls are pretty simple and only rarely will you not finish in the top three places of a race.  Touch mechanics are limited here and the only one to speak of is the back touch screen that allows you to manually shift.  It's kind of neat, but its not a game-changer in any way.

FP view in the garage is kind of a fun addition, useless, but fun.

There are a lot of unlockables, based upon how many stars you get during races, and a lot of top name car manufacturers.  We're not looking at the same amount as Forza or Gran Turismo, but there's still an impressive library considering that this is a handheld system.  One thing that's kind of annoying is that you are unable to determine what cars you own unless you are in the garage.  So in the shop, you can't determine which cars you already own versus those that you don't; they all show the price and if they are locked or unlocked.  Different paint schemes allow for some customization for you to make your cars yours.  Tons of tracks are also available, though many are recycled from past Asphalt games.  I haven't personally played the other games so they were all new to me and that downside didn't really come into play during the demo anyway.

All-in-all, this game is pretty good, but there are a few issues that would deter me from buying it.  Considering that the iOS version is $0.99 and the Vita version is $30+, it might not be a good buy unless you really, really want it on your PSVita or don't have an iDevice and are looking for a good racing game for your new handheld.  My advice in that situation is to buy this and stay far away from Mod Nation and Ridge Racer, those just flat out suck.