Developer: Umber Games
Price: $1.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Device Reviewed On: iPhone 5

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Are you incredibly patient? Do you possess impressive levels of accuracy when it comes to tilting things ever so slightly? If you can answer yes to those two questions then you might enjoy Cava Racing. Otherwise, you'll see this as a promising yet incredibly flawed racing game.

cava1It certainly looks quite delightful. While the visuals are reasonably minimalistic, they invoke a kind of futuristic feel that's really quite appealing. The crucial flaw, however, is how everything plays.

There are six different tracks to race across in all; a new one unlocking every time you reach a particularly good time in the previous one. Each race involves completing three laps, with the fastest one going towards unlocking the next track. Controls are primarily tilt-based. While you hold a finger to the screen to accelerate and can add another to activate a boost, it's tilting the screen at speed that is most dominant.

That's a significant problem as controlling your vehicle just isn't very accurate. You have to be incredibly careful at all times, and even then you end up making silly mistakes because of the sensitivity. You have a shield at all times, which is damaged whenever you hit a wall, and if you run out of shield power it's game over and you have to start again. It's annoying rather than challenging.

cava5You can collect orbs to replenish your shield but this still involves some very careful maneuvering and becomes frustrating all too easily. It only gets worse once you unlock the faster spaceships.

Cava Racing might be stylish but it doesn't take advantage of its potential. You'll mostly just be a bit irritated in the long run, which doesn't make it an attractive proposition.