27 Jun 08
Play Stuntmania Online for free
Stuntmania Online comes with a great idea at its core - that stunts are fun and insane stunts are more fun. So, the designers have spent time crafting a range of crazy arenas that beg to be explored and conquered.
And they're very cleverly assembled, rewarding those who master the basics with new areas, new challenges and juicier power-ups. They also look great - check out the playroom-themed level, complete with giant Scalextric track and bouncable ball. It's all your creepy Toy Story dreams brought to life.
All very nice - the variety of cars, tracks and modes are predictably comprehensive for a game found on shockwave.com - but all this attention to detail and joie de vivre exuded by the game makes it all the more surprising that they seem to have bodged the most important part of the game: controlling it.
This can't be right, surely? Pulling off stunts requires a vehicle capable of pirouetting gracefully around the course, but you are presented with a fat, stupid lump. Acceleration is painfully slow and the steering is too much like hard work, with course correction at speed proving to be a nightmare. Just making it up a ramp is hard enough: the car keeps hurling itself off the edge, time after time. Intricate manoeuvres are almost impossible.
Until, that is, you fiddle with the options. There are two sliders that affect the steering, and give you the opportunity to make the vehicle far more responsive. It makes a hell of a difference, and since we first played this game, the designers of Stuntmania Online appear to have taken on board the criticism and added an introduction screen to draw your attention to these options.
Play Stuntmania Online for free
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