Nowadays mobile gaming is the platform for many small game developers who are looking to make their mark on the games industry. It also seems that when a mobile game hits the big-time, it’s almost inevitable that the game will appear on other formats: birds being catapulted across the screen, fruit being diced into tiny pieces and “The Doodler” all made their way onto different platforms after being introduced onto the mobile market. While it does work for some, it doesn’t work for the majority and with Grip Games’ smash-hit mobile title Jet Car Stunts, there’s a good chance that this could join the esteemed mobile ports.

Jet Car Stunts does exactly what it says on the tin. The game is a unique single-player racing title which sees you driving across various sloping platforms and through obstacles in the sky. In order to reach various levels of platforms the player must engage a turbo boost which maintains flight heights for a brief amount of time. Colourful obstacles light up the sky and show how fun this game is and appears to be from the word “go”. As you peel away the colourful and apparent innocence of Jet Car Stunts, the difficulty curve may frustrate even the most experienced of racing fans. While there isn’t any multiplayer leaderboards, it is something which may be added in the future as the iOS version comes with leaderboards.

Much like many other racing games, there are a variety of games modes which keep the same gameplay mechanics, but execute them in a variety of ways. There are three game modes in Jet Car Stunts and they include Platforming, Time Trial and Collector. ‘Platforming’ is a basic race where you have to defeat ghosts which you can use as a guide to how quickly you should be going and when to use your rocket booster. ‘Time Attack’ is your standard race where you have to reach a target by a certain time to gain a better medal as you get grips with the tracks and how your car handles. The final game mode is ‘Collector’ where there are 5 stars in each race and the objective is to collect all 5 stars and as the levels increase in difficulty, they are placed in more inconvenient places. Inconvenient may be putting it across bluntly as this game can become extremely hard in no time at all.

The difficulty in Jet Car Stunts plays a huge factor, especially early on. The main reason for the game’s steep difficulty curve is with the mid-air controls and how luck plays a huge part. There is a tutorial mode and, although this can be accessed at any time, even the tutorial proves to be difficult, as you can see in the image below.

While the handling on the tracks is flawless and sliding round corners is great fun, the air sections are hugely frustrating at times. The mid-air controls are very numb and the only real impact you feel as if you can make in mid-air is by how fast you are going. The tutorial seems to promote control where you can weave in and out of obstacles, but it doesn’t seem to work that way in the PC version as I found that only the speed of my car could be altered and passing certain obstacles revolved around fortune rather than skill.

Even though Jet Car Stunts is difficult in one sense it is very much fair in others. Many other racing games would offer players the chance to upgrade their car to a better model or increase certain specifications in the car. From the moment you start until the moment you finish all levels, the same car is used throughout. This puts each course on a level playing field and it makes the experience a lot more rewarding as the same car is being used throughout. Each level in ‘Platforming’ provides gold, silver and bronze medals based on the time taken to complete the track, as well as the number of retries or checkpoints you use.

The art style and simplicity of the graphics seem to calm your growing frustrations when the game increases the difficulty. The setting of having a race track in the sky is a great idea and even though it’s a port of a mobile game, the scenery is full of colour and the simplistic tone of the graphics help the colours stand out. Key obstacles are almost impossible to miss as they are highlighted by being bright orange or bright green which makes some of the more difficult circuits easier to manage as there is no map. There is the occasional blip I experienced when I had rolled the car or landed on its roof and you would be able to see through the platform, but it certainly isn’t jarring.

On the subject of platforms, platforming seems to be one of the game’s greatest strengths. Jet Car Stunts blends a mixture of fast-paced racing and well thought-out platforms which sees you having to strategically work out when to use your boost and when to use the air brake. Combining ramps, loops, hoops and platforms, Jet Car Stunts excels at creating a unique and fun driving experience.

For me, Jet Car Stunts is definitely a game worthy of being ported to other platforms after making its name in mobile gaming. The game controls very well as you’re sliding round a corner and going toe-to-toe against a ghost. While the game does offer a lot of reward in terms of feeling gleeful after gaining a gold medal on a track, the controls in the air are a huge let-down and dampen some experiences of harder tracks. Once you get used to how to approach these inconveniences, the game becomes a fun and addictive racing game. With Jet Car Stunts originally being a mobile game, its quality shines on the PC and it’s no wonder that the game is also coming soon to the PS3 and PS4.

Jet Car Stunts is available now on Steam for £7.99, Android & iOS devices for £1.49 and is also coming soon to PS3 and PS4.

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