Plugged as a new way to experience The Phantom Menace, but is really just another podracing game.
Description
Type: Racing game
Platform: iOS
Players: 1
Age: 4 and up
Game Time: Story is only a half hour at most, the podracing portion can be hours of enjoyment.
Developer or Designer: Disney
Publisher: Disney
I expected that players would need to win pod races to open up the story but that is not the case. The entire story is available and watchable. The 180-degree parallax is interesting and maybe even a little cool, but that’s about it. As you watch the story unfold, you can click actionable items on the screen to see additional actions, it’s kind of like a pop-up book on your phone or iPad. Unfortunately, this comes off a little lame. The narrator reads well, so that’s something.
Pod Racing
The thing about pod racing games is that they are all very similar: a selection of tracks and a pod racer with basic boost and brake controls. If you’ve enjoyed pod racing games in the past, chances are you will enjoy this one. There is a directional control on each side of your iDevice and boost buttons. Players can do a single race, a timed run around a course, a knock-out race. There is also a competition mode which mixes up the three other modes. All-in-all, the races look good, but there are no surprises here and I found very little to be excited about.
The end result is that this is a $1.99 app with a $6.99 price tag. If you want a fun Star Wars experience, save your money and check out Assault Team. Hopefully the next installment of Journeys will have more to it.