Within the seasons, certain events require a particular car that can be purchased with in-game currency. They’re granted by winning races, or fulfilling special conditions like a certain number of drifts or takedowns. To keep these events spread out, the pacing is dictated by collecting stars to unlock new seasons of races. Another mode, Knockdown, deemphasizes the race aspect and instead has you attempt to cause more crashes than your opponent.

Infection became a quick favorite of mine – it gives all the “infected” racers unlimited boosts, but with the constant threat of burning out once the infection passes if you fail to add time by spreading it. A few modes do offer more inventive race types. Skill was no longer the deciding factor it all came down to purchasing better vehicles. Sure, it’s fun speeding down the streets of Barcelona in a faster car, but after a dozen or so times I knew the turns so well that I’d either win easily, or be hopelessly outmatched by better cars.

The longevity is a double-edged sword to some extent, since the large number of events means each of those maps get repeated several times. Most of the races are standard multi-car or one-on-one matches. Asphalt is lengthy, offering eight seasons of increasing speed classes and 180 races in all, plus a full-fledged online mode with all the maps and race types available. The physics occasionally behave erratically, leading to a jump or spin not behaving like you’d expect and flubbing the trick. Taking to the air is often slower than sticking to the streets, so making split-second decisions about whether I could spare that time to make it up with the boost I’d earn helps add tension to races. Those three basic building blocks are all that’s needed to offer really precise handling across the nine well-differentiated environments, which run the gamut from a neon-soaked Tokyo rife with sharp turns to the ramp-laden streets of London.Asphalt 8’s addition to the series, the air stunts, are a nice twist that offer nitro boosts as rewards, which gives them a risk-reward dynamic. The silky smooth tilt controls for steering feel intuitive, and since the cars auto-accelerate, the two halves of the screen function as gigantic buttons to trigger brakes and nitro boosts.

This is the eighth game in the series, so it shouldn’t be surprising that Gameloft has locked down the basic mechanics.

How to sell cars in asphalt 8 airborne