Flux Challenge by PDAmill, Price: $19.95
Reviewed September 2004 by Tony Peak

For those who still remember the futuristic hovercraft tube racers of yesteryear, Flux Challenge will seem vaguely familiar. Many of the staple challenges of the genre persist, sharp turns in all directions, speed bars, and solid beams placed dangerously across the tube path, while PDAmill brings their own touch as well.

For the rest of you however, here’s the gameplay in a nutshell. You and a group of computers race at breakneck speeds in free floating hovercrafts inside tunnels, dodging beams and hitting boosts along the way. In PDAmill’s take on this genre, control has been simplified for the Pocket PC. There’s no accelerate button, nor is there any break. You’ll simply spend your time navigating the tubes and trying not to crash into anything… easier said than done.

Each race an entry fee must be paid, and your ship must be rented. There’s 6 tiers of tracks and ships, each faster and more difficult than the last with fees from free to outrageous. With 4 tracks per tier, a total of 24 tracks can be raced. Placing first nets you the prize, second will refund your ship rental and entry fees, third will split the cost. Anything more and you’re out of luck. Your ultimate goal is to race and win in the Grand Flux.

The handful of AI ships do a respectable job, though honestly they don’t have much to do. There’s no ship to ship combat or any real danger of collision, so they’re pretty much around as nice lifelike pace markers if anything. Control will vary widely with your skill. Personally I found the stylus control to be a bit too lose and to not have the precise adjustments I wanted, while hardware control was a bit tough but very usable. The ships have a sort of built in drift to their turns, and while it may be a bit simple that’s about the extent of the control depth. The tunnels are too narrow and twisting to really have room to work any good drift tricks, but you will still enjoy skimming the edges of sharp twists.

If you’re not a fan of 3D games, I don’t think Flux will change your mind… but the engine is certainly one of the better on the PPC front. It’s quite smooth throughout and the texture work is quite something. While it may be rather limited compared to the jaw dropping visuals of desktop tunnel racers like Ballistics, the varied and colorful textures of Flux gives each tunnel a detailed and exciting feeling as they whiz past, rather than just another generic tube. The options for higher poly ships, texture dithering, and engine trails only help add to the game’s visual appeal.

Sound will, of course, depend on taste. The voice clips and such add polish while the engine sounds and other tidbits are all well suited overall. The good news is Jaybot7 seems to be trying some new things. The music is beat heavy with a lot of bass, which sounds almost grating at times over my Axim X5 speaker, so a pair of headphones are needed to fully enjoy the soundtrack. Flux’s soundtrack is thankfully a bit more distinct than some other titles, though they do still fall back on the same midi-like single beat at a time in the tracks.

When it comes right down to it, I believe your enjoyment of Flux Challenge will depend on how seriously you take it. The streamlined controls and simplistic nature of ‘career’ mode makes it easy to assume Flux is just an empty arcade racer, but with enough practice and attention to detail it’s easy to see Flux has more depth than it might first appear. While a good storyline and some more depth to career mode than just prizes and entry fees would have helped, the engine itself is very solid and ready to be taken as more than a pick up and play arcade racer.

• Don’t hold down the turn control during long turns, instead go for controlled bursts. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself turning too sharply and heading straight to the wall. Try to hug the inside wall.

• In career mode, each set of tracks gets slightly more difficult. Try the harder tracks on the first group, then if you don’t feel confident return to easier tracks in the 3 rd or 4 th group. It’s better than losing your fees.

• To easily dodge many red bars and solid bars on the track, try skimming the very top or bottom of the track in that area. It should get you by most obstacles. To avoid the spinning reds, stay near the edge. To hit the spinning green, go for the center.

• You can race in practice mode with any ship you’ve unlocked on any track you’ve unlocked. To unlock a ship or track, pay the fees for it once in career mode. Use time trials to try and increase your best speed.