There aren’t many racing games out for the Pocket PC and it’s time for some more. Ion-Fx, a new PDA gaming company, has just released Geo-Rally 2005, a new racing game featuring 3D graphics for the Pocket PC. It requires Windows Mobile 2003, 10 MB of storage, and 10 MB of program memory. It also requires at least a 200MHz Xscale processor.

To start playing you need to create a new game and name it. It will ask you which of three modes you would like to play. There is Very Easy, Easy, and Normal. In Very Easy mode, you are required to get a “C” grade to win the race, in Easy mode you are required to get a “B” grade to win the race, and in Normal mode, you are required to get an “A” grade to win the race. There are 30 cars in total in Geo-Rally 2005, but you start with one car. There are three locations to race in, each with five stages. The three locations are: Savannah, Mediterranean, and Highlands. There are also two different types of races: Time Trial and Head to Head. In Time Trial, you have to get to the finish line before by the time given to you when you select the stage. There are three different times assigned for each stage, one for each grade. In Head to Head mode, you have to race against three other cars, and beat them to the finish line to win. The Savannah and Highlands locations feature Time Trial races, while the Mediterranean location features Head to Head races. After winning a stage, you unlock a car to use and the next stage. If you win on the stage a second time, you win a second car. Therefore, there are two cars per stage, making a total of 30 cars to unlock and use. Once you beat all five stages in the location, you unlock Test Drive mode for that location, which can be accessed from the garage screen. In Test Drive mode, you can freely roam the location that you have unlocked. This is useful for testing out a new car. The test drive mode is also quite fun. The different modes can keep you entertained for hours.

In Geo-Rally 2005, there are two ways to control your car. You can steer using the D-Pad, or you can drag the stylus on the surface of the screen. There are also options to configure which buttons are accelerate, brake and reverse menu, etc. If your device has a jog switch on the side, in landscape view, you can use it to turn. You can also adjust the sensitivity of the buttons. Overall, the controls are easy to use, depending on what Pocket PC you have.

The graphics in Geo-Rally 2005 are absolutely amazing! Every object in the game is 3D, and they look realistic. The details in the game are amazing, but if you need to change the graphics, you can change the texture resolution from the options menu. You can also change the view distance, and what view of the car you want. The sliders for view distance and texture resolution are meant to be changed if your device is slower, and the game is choppy, or to turn them up if you want better graphics, and your device can handle the graphics. There are three different car views: chase, bumper, and hood. You can also enable fog. I noticed that if you have the view distance slider low, so objects appear when you are closer, and you enable fog, it will make it look more realistic. Overall, the graphics in Geo-Rally 2005 are spectacular, and are the best that I have seen out of a Pocket PC racing game.

In Geo-Rally 2005, there is upbeat music that is easy to “groove” to when you are going through menus, and there are sound effects when you select options, etc. While you are driving, there is no music, but there is an engine noise that is pretty realistic, and there are sound effects when you crash, skid, etc. There could be more sound and music, but there is enough to add to the game.

Overall, Geo-Rally 2005 is a must-have racing game, and is an amazing accomplishment for a first-time software developer. The graphics are the best ever so far for a Pocket PC racer, and the gameplay experience is amazing. The sounds and music in the game are ok, but they could be better. Hopefully we will see more great games from Ion-Fx Studios!

Playing Tips and Hints

• Do the Time Trial locations first, as they are easier.
• Do each stage twice in a row so you can unlock cars faster
• Try playing on Very Easy mode first