In ten-minute chunks of gaming between more substantial titles, SpeedX 3D is a delightful palate-cleanser that focuses the mind. The chilled-out electronic tune that accompanies proceedings enhances this effect, but since there's only one song included in the game it can start to grate after a while.Īnd extended play is really where the product suffers. When you're in the zone, SpeedX 3D is an almost relaxing experience. There's a strange calmness to the game when you're doing well, such as you might find in the eye of a storm. There are a few variations on the formula, such as the Zones mode, in which you have to collect fuel to keep playing, and an Endless mode for high scores, but these all feel very samey. The main mode takes you through 12 (slightly too lengthy) stages, then ramps up the speed for the next round.
These include cloud nebulae that damage your shield, gravity wells that force you to oversteer while turning, and blackouts that turn everything dark - removing the coloured stripe that usually gives you early warning of an approaching block. Occasionally, a prompt pops up (annoyingly obscuring part of your view) to indicate a hazard approaching. Each environment provides its own challenges - tunnels provide plenty of blind turns to catch you unawares, for example.
The course around you intermittently transforms from a high-speed tube into an undulating plain, or inverts completely so that you're racing on its exterior walls. Smashing into one removes a shield from your stock (replenished by pads on the track), and if you lose all of your shields your run comes to an abrupt stop. Cubes and pyramids block these paths as you hurtle towards the horizon, and you have to avoid them with the Circle Pad or motion controls. The sparse geometry is block-coloured in white, with angular channels forming paths down the track. Crank the 3D slider up while playing SpeedX 3D and there's a superb sense of depth to the landscape around you as it whizzes past.
Hurtling down tunnels is a brilliant way to show off the autostereoscopic 3D capabilities of the 3DS. It's also a bit of a one-trick pony, and while that trick is impressive at first the game's utter lack of ambition and experimentation eventually brings it screeching to a halt. It's fast, places great strain on your reactions, and is unabashedly minimalist. Gamelion's latest effort is a tunnel racer, playing like a pacifistic Tempest 2000 crossed with WipEout 2048.
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