(Game Sack Theme) (glass shatters) – Hello, and welcome to “Game Sack.
” This is a paid promotion for “Asphalt 9, ” but I wouldn't do this if the game wasn'tawesome, so stick around.
Anyway, if you've watched the show for any length of time, you're probably aware that Ireally love my racing games, and were you aware that2020 is the 15th anniversary of the “Asphalt” racing series? I didn't know because I usually don't play very many mobile games, but honestly, I should've checked this series out sooner because it's awesome.
Let's take a look.
(intense rock music) The very first game wascalled “Asphalt Urban GT, ” and it ran on Java.
Yes, it's kind of pixely, but you know me, I love that.
And personally, I stillthink it looks good today.
It even moves at 60 framesper second and everything, at least how I'm playingit in my web browser it is.
There are really smooth hills, another feature I especially like in pixely racing games.
This was actually the first mobile game with wireless Bluetooth multiplayer.
Pretty good for a cellphone game from 2005.
(upbeat electronic music) (car bangs) (car bangs) (car bangs) (intense electronic music) The “Asphalt” series has seenmany entries over the years, and while they've alwaysbeen on the mobile market, the games have also shown up on the PSP, the Nintendo DS, and now, even the Switch.
There's tons of crazy racing action in this series that I wasn'teven aware of until recently.
The game isn't so simpleanymore, that's for sure.
(sweet electronic music) Check out “Asphalt 8: Airborne” here, which I'm playing on my iPhone.
This one was released in 2013, and it had a revamped physics engine which makes it even more arcade-y.
You've got branching paths, jumps, flips, and lots of fun stuff in18 different locations, and as you can see, the graphics have definitelyimproved in this one, and I'm glad that they didn'tsacrifice the frame rate.
You even have some interestingspinoffs to the series, like “Asphalt Extreme” here, which came out in 2016.
This one takes you off-road on tracks all over theworld except Denver.
There are never any Denverracing tracks in video games.
Granted, I don't know why there would be, but I'm just throwing that out there.
As always, playing withtouch screen controls on a mobile device took a bit for me to get used to, but I still had fun, and each game offersseveral different methods to choose from when it comesto controlling your car, and who doesn't love options? There's even “Asphalt StreetStorm, ” another 2016 game which has you doing aseries of drag races.
This is a rather simple entry where you need to mostly concentrate on launching and shiftingat the right time.
Yeah, I know, on the surface, it sounds kinda boring, but you know what, I keptplaying race after race.
As a result, this game is very much at home on a mobile device.
The races are generally pretty short, so it's a good time-waster.
And let's not forget “Asphalt Overdrive, ” which was an endless runner, or driver, racer, whatever.
And even “Asphalt Nitro, “which featured a tiny size at only 25 megabytes.
Over the years, the “Asphalt”franchise has become the most downloaded mobile racing series, with over 850 million downloads.
Jeez, where have I been? (car engines rev) (soft electronic music) In 2018, “Asphalt 9:Legends” was released, and it's pretty cool.
It's even more arcade-y, it's super fast, and it's crazy, and it looks fantastic.
Wait, didn't I say beforethat this was on the Switch? Yes, I did.
It's free to download, so let's try that out.
Let me just dust this off.
(Switch beeps) Wow, what do you know, it still has power, and the game's ready to go.
What an uncanny coincidence!! Oh yeah, now this iswhat I'm talking about.
You know me, I much prefer to play my games on theTV than a handheld device, and the Switch versionhere makes me realize how intense this game really is.
You start out with only one car.
You have different goalsto meet in each race.
Sometimes, it's justfinish in the top three.
Sometimes, you need to do that, as well as do enough perfect nitros, and drift for a certain distance.
So pay attention to what you need to do.
You unlock more areasand tracks as you go, as well as new cars bywinning blueprint races.
Did I mention that this game was intense? Because it definitely is.
You get a nitro boost, and if you tap it again while the bar is in acertain colored area, you get another boost or a mega boost.
You can refill the nitro bar by drifting and doing various otherthings like jumping.
There are also blue and yellownitro icons scattered about which will refill your bar depending on which one you grab.
The yellow ones seem to refill up more, so go for those if you have a choice.
And oh man, the jumps inthis game are super fun.
I love how you can steeryour car in the air, just like real life.
Sometimes, when you'reflying through the air, you can even knock a bladeoff of a wind turbine.
Yeah, take that, renewable energy!! Getting more nitro asa result of the jumps is just a bonus.
Still, you need to keep your nitros going as much as you can ifyou want to win the race.
I like going off of jumps and landing on the tops of buildings.
This game is full of energy, with cars knocking out fire hydrants which suddenly gush water, and things of that nature.
There's also multiple waysto get through each course, so be on the lookout for branching paths.
The game also lets you take out opponents with knockdowns.
I really like knocking downanother racer in midair.
It's very satisfying.
As you progress in the game, you even get to battle crazy cops who are trying to bring you down.
How did I miss out onthis game for so long? This game isn't a cakewalk though.
There was one race that Ikept trying again and again, and I just couldn't win.
That's because I was an idiot and I forgot to upgrademy car sufficiently, which is pretty easy to do.
I was able to beat the race after that, but this game will still challenge you.
One thing that's kind of weird is that you have fuel points which decrease every time you selecta car before you race.
These seem to refill automatically after a bunch of races, but one time, they didn't, and I had to wait 15 or so seconds whilethe car was refueled.
I don't really understandwhat that's all about, but hey, the game's free, so I can wait 15 seconds every once in a while, I guess.
The graphics are bright, colorful, and run at a pretty fastframe rate for the Switch.
The music is energetic, just like you'd expect, and the control is nearly perfect.
I seriously can't wait to see what Gameloft does withthe next “Asphalt” game.
As part of the 15thanniversary celebration, a Dodge Challenger muscle car with 15th anniversary wrap will be gifted to everyone who launches”Asphalt 9: Legends” from May 5th to May 21st.
I also want to say that I downloaded this from the Nintendo eShopjust like anyone else.
I didn't have a code thatgranted me any more features than you'd get fromthe same free download.
Seriously, though, justcheck this game out.
Why wouldn't you? (car engines rev) (intense rock music) There you go, that's the “Asphalt” series, up until now, anyway, and I'm really diggingpart 9 on the Switch.
It was totally worthdusting that thing off.
So have you played any ofthe games in the series? What do you think? Let me know.
In the meantime, thank youfor watching “Game Sack.
“.
