The law: if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em…

Need For Speed Hot Pursuit for iPad : Like its home console counterpart this iPad offering gives the player control over poke missions in a series that has spent over a decade concentrating on how different a Ford Focus looks with and without neon lights. The result is a relatively truncated yet perfectly enjoyable racer, though one altogether more divorced from reality than even its rollercoaster of a relation.

Naturally, the technology jump has necessitated a trim or two. Gone is the world map, replaced with a somewhat threadbare array of tubular tracks set within generic geographical climates (perhaps a benefit, given the home version’s tunnels that began in a blizzard and finished arid). Significantly altered, too, is much of the weaponry that made its full-price releaseon consoles equal parts Police Camera Action and Mario Kart.

Borrowing tilt-to-steer mechanics from almost every iOS racer ever made, Hot Pursuit’s handling discards adulation of recent OutRun titles for that of Ridge Racer’s drift and grip dichotomy. Success, relies largely upon sticking diligently to the racing line, more aggressive twisting motions leading to oversteer, followed by swift death. This being the case, Hot Pursuit for iPad would perhaps constitute one of the App Store’s finest racing simulations if not robbed of its assortment of power-ups: With loftier ambitions, it’s merely entertaining.

Rating 4 Star