Mad Hill Racing

Even the simplest games can keep you engaged for hours on end, especially if they feature some kind of a challenge, or a high score system that keeps you coming back for more. On the other hand, it’s important that the gameplay mechanics are refined as well, otherwise the frustration takes over and there’s no joy in the experience when you are constantly fighting the controls.

Mad Hill Racing is an arcade game in which you have to drive a vehicle through a variety of environments and try to make it as far as possible without running out of gas or getting stuck. The levels are full of coins that reward you with cash, so besides beating the high score by getting further every time, you also receive cash for your efforts.

This cash can be used to purchase new levels or vehicles, depending on which you desire most. However, it seems like you start with enough money to buy anything you want, which is a bit annoying. On the other hand, it takes a long time to gather enough cash to purchase some of the vehicles, so maybe this is a blessing in disguise.

Since the game features only two dimensions, it’s no surprise that the controls are very simple as well. You can only move forward and backward, although there is no reason to use the reverse function anyway. The speed of the vehicles is very low, making it difficult to climb certain hills. It’s not a matter of skill, however, which makes the whole thing very frustrating and annoying.

Lastly, the graphics are nothing to stand in awe of either, not even if the game was designed for mobile devices, which it was. The simple backgrounds get repetitive after the first few minutes, and the lack of proper animations hurt the experience even more. However, these aspects could have been ignored if the gameplay was more fun, but sadly it is not.

Mad Hill Racing might have made a better impression of the gameplay mechanics were refined, but they are way too basic to be enjoyable. The slow and annoying speeds keep you from putting your skills to the test.