Konami’s Krazy Kart Racing crashes into the App Store
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Late last week, Konami released an iPhone app of its Krazy Racers game in the App Store for $7.99.
This version of the game lets users take on other racers as one of 10 classic Konami characters in more than a dozen themed racing circuits. The steering employs the internal accelerometer and includes a number of tools and tactics such as Nitro boost and extras you pick up along the way. There are with five different single player modes and an in-game map. Players can go bumper to bumper with friends in linked multi-player competitions.
We had a brief exchange with Axel de Rougé, lead producer and head of mobile development at Konami Digital Entertainment, about Krazy Kart Racing. (The name is apparently incorrectly listed on the App Store.)
Q. When you designed Krazy Kart Racing, what was the goal for the look and game play?
A. The game is based on Konami Krazy Racers, which was a GBA kart racing game released in 2001. We wanted to take this game to the next generation of mobile gaming.
Q. Do the 10 characters each give users a different playing experience?
A. Yes, every character has his distinct advantages and disadvantages with regards to handling, speed and acceleration. Depending on which character you use you will have to adjust your strategy for picking up items. If you are driving a slower character that is better in handling you might look to pick up as many speed bursts as possible, whereas you would try to slow down opponents behind you when driving a faster character.
Q. How is the online multiplayer designed to work? A. At the moment it is basically single racing against other players. You can do that either using a local Wi-Fi connection, racing against people that are at the same physical location or you can play against any other player from all over the world using our Internet game servers. Once we see more people picking up online play, you will see additions provided.
Q. What additional games can we look forward to from Konami on the iPhone/iPod Touch in the near future?
A. We recently announced Wireway, which is an innovative new puzzle-platformer adventure that we are confident will become a massive success.
Q. Is there anything that stands out about the Krazy Kart game?
A. Krazy Kart Racing is the first kart racer to offer a dynamic camera balancing system. The camera rotates against the movement of the device when playing with accelerometer controls, so your eye doesn’t need to correct the perspective, giving you a much smoother steering experience. You hardly notice the difference until you switch it off.
-- Michelle Maltais
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