Looking at two distinctly divergent games that walk the same road. Roadkill Cafe and Racer are two of the most fun and addictive games I have played on iPhone lately. While one has an eccentric theme, the other pumps up the adrenaline the moment you hit the road. Read on to find out more about these super cool games.

Roadkill Cafe: Stack up the Carcasses

Roadkill Cafe, is a weirdly themed game wherein you pick up animals slayed by road traffic in a wheelbarrow to be delivered to the roadside cafe. It doesn’t sound as much fun as it is, trust me. I did not pin my hopes too high after reading the game description but it surely kept me entertained for quite a few days.

Five Games Bundled into One

The game has five different modes with each mode featuring you with a wheelbarrow and farm animals like chicken,rabbits, ducks etc. Cafe, Arcade, Survivor, Vengeance and Rampage make up the five unique levels of the game. Cafe mode needs to be completed in order to unlock the remaining modes.

Cafe mode has six levels in itself with each level being split into two parts, easy and hard. You are assigned the fun task of bustling through a busy highway to scoop up the fresh roadkill in your wheelbarrow and scramble back to deliver it over to the cafe. Fresh roadkill is the primary requirement of customers at the cafe, so you need to keep them satisfied at all times in order to get your cafe a 5-star rating, only way to advance to the next level. Each level in Cafe mode has a different location along with little surprises.

The Arcade mode is similar to the Cafe mode but is not bound by a time limit, hence you are free to set a high score in this mode. Tables are turned in Vengeance mode with chickens haunting you in an empty field while you flee from them for as long as you can. Survivor mode puts you on the highway to dodge traffic for as long as possible. In Rampage mode, it’s your turn to kill some chickens while avoiding traffic as you take to road in a car. In all, each level brings with it a fun and jovial gameplay killing your time quickly and efficiently!

Eccentric, Uncouth yet Engrossing

The game provides three different control methods, Thumbstick, Lure and Tilt; first two are based on taps while the last one utilizes the power of accelerometer. Global and local scores are available for each level and mode [screenshot]. Detailed statistics are also available displaying the number of different animals seen, killed, delivered,  and a hell lot of other details. The background music as well as game sounds have been well thought out to complement the gameplay. Graphics are about average and close attention has been been paid only to backgrounds and not the characters. There are quite a few minor bugs present in the current version that have been ironed out in an update recently submitted to Apple for approval. Atommo should be coming out with new version implementing major changes in the near future.

Priced at just $0.99 [iTunes link], Roadkill Cafe is virtually five games packed in to a single app. The best part about the game is its replay value and global scoreboards. If you aren’t petrified of watching blood all around or staring at dead animal carcasses, then indubitably hit the ‘Buy Now’ button on this one.

Racer: Burn the Road

Racer, a thrilling game by Tatem Games, is an outright fast-paced car racing game. True to its name, it puts your reflexes to ultimate test while scrutinizing your driving skills. Drive through 6-lane expressway, cutting through traffic furiously consisting of convertibles, minivans and the likes, to pump up the adrenaline.

Zip, Zap, Zoom, Crash and Burn!

Racer has incomplex gameplay that keeps you hooked for long periods of time. Even after having over 10,000 KM of racing experience under my belt, my thirst to climb up the global leaderboard hasn’t diminished one bit! Zip, zap, zoom through traffic to crash and burn only to spring back to life till all you lives exhaust out. The car can be controlled by dragging it across the screen using your most agile finger; thumb worked best in my case. Into a race, every 10KM notches up the level by a bit and with every 2,000 points scored, you are credited with an additional life. Apart from the Normal mode, there is Hard mode that ups the ante in terms of traffic density, speed as well as points scored.

The game has ultra-smooth gameplay (iPhone 3G), an undeniable necessity especially for the Hard mode comprising of dense, super-fast traffic. There isn’t much scenery to gaze at, with the expressway covering up most of the screen. The thing that irritated me most was the banner that passes by every time the level is upped or when you are granted an additional life. I have lost count of the times I have lost a life due to the banner covering the screen up for a split second. And yes, getting a start in a new life is of utmost difficulty, so make sure you take full advantage once you get going.

Innovative UI, Riveting Gameplay with Promising Future

The menu interface impressed with its unique three way navigation system [screenshot]. Flip sideways to reveal scoreboard on one side while settings on the other. Flipping upwards presents you with the Help along with the credits. In settings you can adjust the car color, vibration, screen orientation, distance unit as well as the difficulty mode. I found the sound effects unimpressive and preferred to play with game sounds turned off most of the time.

Solo control option, single environment setting and lack of surprise factor are some of the drawbacks of Racer, but considering it’s the first version, I would cut developers some slack, hoping to see interesting changes make their way into the next version. In fact, Racer v1.1 including Facebook integration, scoreboard improvements and graphical enhancements among other changes is pending approval and should hit App Store soon. Tatem Games has a major update under development consisting of new games modes and cool new cars; can’t wait to lay my hands on it. Requiring supreme levels of concentration where an eye blink can prove catastrophic, Racer is highly addictive. If you have played Crazy Taxi on Facebook and alike, hit the App Store and grab this $0.99 [iTunes link] app right away!

[Header image via Flickr]