In the last couple of years, SK Games has put out a series of titles that, while functionally similar, are still surprisingly fun to play. The developers have an uncanny knack for taking simple concepts and controls and weaving them together into a magical time vacuum from which it is impossible to escape. It’s for that reason that any new release from this endless running phenom is met with great anticipation.
Such is the case for the Android release of Traffic Rider, SK Games third endless racer and undoubtedly it’s most engrossing. The Android port of the title is so popular in fact that in the month since its Christmas Eve release, more than ten million people have downloaded Traffic Rider to their Android device. Even more telling, after more than a million posted reviews, the game still boasts a laudable 4.8 in the Play Store.
Updated textures, lighting and sound effects add a level of polish not present in the company’s previous releases while the addition of a full career mode adds a little more depth and variety to an already stellar endless running experience.
So, What Is Traffic Rider?
Like its predecessors Traffic Racer and Wings on Fire, Traffic Rider sees the player assume the role of an unnamed individual who absolutely has to get somewhere in a hurry. The actual destination is left to the viewer, because this game really makes you work to understand it’s narrative … Just kidding, there’s no story at all!
Basically, Traffic Rider take place in first person, with the player looking over a set of handlebars. One button is the gas, another is the break, and tilting the phone back and forth controls the direction your rider is leaning. As players progress, they can unlock newer, more difficult levels and bigger, shinier motorcycles.
At no point is upgrading your hog compulsory, but if you want to get through career mode, you’ll need to juice up your bike in a variety of different ways.
The level of customization is far beyond previous titles from SK Games, the new modes offer plenty of replay value, and the fact that it’s 100 percent free is also never a bad thing. In-app purchases are available, but for the talented player or dedicated grinder, there’s no need to open your wallet.
Just A Few Tips Before Starting Out
The controls may seem kindergarten-level easy, but that doesn’t mean that Traffic Rider is a mindless experience. You’ll need split-second timing and more than a little patience to overcome the trials that await you. Before you strap on your helmet, though, give these general tips some thought:
Expect to fail. A lot.
As you might expect, with a game that involves flying headlong into dense traffic, death is at every turn. Traffic Rider is tough and pretty unforgiving; one wrong move usually equates to a mission restart. So, expect to smash into lots of stuff and get prepared to do every level at least twice. It’s just part of the game.
Don’t worry about the time limit.
Traffic Rider’s career mode is composed of a series of timed levels. Don’t worry about the ticking clock, though. Traffic Rider is a game of nanoseconds, not minutes, so your goal isn’t necessarily to beat the clock as much as it is to survive until you hit the finish line. That said, speed isn’t to be discounted, it’s simply to be used a necessary tool of the trade. In other words …
Don’t let off the gas.
There’s a brake button, but brakes are for sissies. Pretty much the only way to get any worthwhile rewards in Traffic Rider is to drive like the Devil’s breathing down your neck. So press down on the gas and keep your finger there because winners don’t brake for anything. Until later levels, anyways.
Drive dangerously.
Traffic Rider is happy to give you points for being a jerk on the road. Every time you cut someone off, or pass someone too closely when you’re driving in excess of 100 miles an hour will add .1 second to your overall time limit. In a game when fractions of a second can be the difference between life and death, victory and defeat, a tenth of a second is a huge deal. So, drive like a crazy person.
Play Endless Mode.
As you progress through the game, your level checkpoints are going to get tougher and tougher to achieve, which will necessitate upgrading your bike and eventually buying motorcycles that aren’t incredibly shameful to be seen riding. Now, you can easily enter your credit card numbers and make things easier on yourself, but if you’re the kind of player who likes to progress by, you know, actually playing a game, then you’ll need to grind. That means giving Career Mode the occasional break and switching over to the Endless Rider mode, which can be pretty lucrative … provided you’re good enough.
Play on your phone.
This is probably more of a personal preference, but Traffic Rider is more suited to a real mobile device as opposed to a tablet. Even a seven-inch tablet can be unwieldy when you’re trying to navigate between slow moving cars at 100 miles per hour. You might think the smaller screen would be a hindrance, but the better grip will more than make up for it.
Tackling More Difficult Content
Okay, so you’ve gotten the basics nailed and you’re ready to move on to some tougher stuff, but you can’t quite seem to get over the hump. That’s no problem at all.
Of course, it’s always recommended that you fail each level as many times as necessary in order to earn success, because if you take the easy way out in one level, the next one will only be harder. That said, even the pros get some guidance from time to time, which is why these videos of how to beat each level can be particularly handy.
Is Traffic Rider right for me?
Sure, why not? It’s free, it’s pretty good looking for the price, and every minute you spend playing goes to help out a small time developer with a passion for making endless runners. If you’re a fan of the genre itself, then you’ve probably been waiting for Traffic Rider’s Android release for some time.
If you’re not necessarily a fan running forward and dodging objects until you eventually hit a wall, then Traffic Rider probably won’t change your mind. The first person perspective is a solid addition to the series and the ability to customize a variety of motorcycles certainly adds some variety to the gameplay, but Traffic Rider doesn’t exactly re-invent the wheel when it come to endless running gameplay.
All that said, Traffic Rider is still a fun entry in the genre that will consistently challenge your reflexes while nudging you forward in what amounts to a fairly satisfying gameplay loop.
It’s perfect for a ten-minute session while you’re on the way to school or work, but it helps to have a vested interest in the games that came before it.
