Jet Car Stunts 2 Review

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Such is the perfect analogy for Jet Car Stunts 2 to live by: it's a perfectly good game, it was back in 2009, why mess with a winning formula? And that's precisely why Jet Car Stunts 2 is still great.

Really, the game is quite unique still: while there are plenty of obstacle course games, sure, there are few that involve navigating courses in a vehicle equipped with a jet engine. Players must not only navigate twists and turns but also launch into the air; using the limited jet fuel and airbrakes to get through each fuel-refilling checkpoint and to the eventual end. Surviving to the end is hard enough; doing so quickly and without retrying a lot is even harder. The game also has three difficulties for each track, where additional obstacles are placed about on each harder difficulty to thwart players. As if easy difficulty wasn't challenging enough.

The new modes here include a stunt mode where players race around a skatepark-esque arena, doing stunts like flips, drifts, and more, to rack up enough points to win the day. As well, a traditional race mode and time trial mode that feature more standardized racing tracks are also present. While they perhaps are not as elegant or creative as the platforming modes, they represent a fun diversion. As well, there are seven car types that all handle differently; such as the mid-air friendly jet and the compact car, which is more jet engine than car and handles as unwieldy as it reads on paper.

Really, the one thing that was broken about Jet Car Stunts was the online leaderboards, and I mean that literally: the original game used OpenFeint to its fullest extent, and when that shut down it hindered the game's ability to provide cross-platform leaderboards and ghost racing. Thankfully, by rolling out their own solution here, True Axis has provided equivalent functionality, and it's a great solution.

The game is actually a freemium release now, where the free version comes with a limited selection of levels and content packs to unlock. The whole game can be unlocked for $4.99, or for various piecemeal purchases, including the track editor. It's an interesting way to make levels by having players drive and create a track, but it takes a lot of practice to make a functional level. Still, by integrating in with actual play, it's a more usable solution than most games.

Jet Car Stunts 2 was a great game in 2009, and with its inimitable concept, still-great tilt controls (that are optimized for iPad!), and new features, this is at least worth a try at the free price for all iOS gamers.