Asphalt (series)

Asphalt
Genres Racing
Developers Gameloft
Publishers Gameloft, Ubisoft, Konami[1]
Platforms Mobile, iOS, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, N-Gage, JavaME, Android, PlayStation Portable, Windows RT, Windows Phone, Symbian, DSiWare, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation Vita
First release Asphalt Urban GT
November 15, 2004
Latest release Asphalt Nitro
May 1, 2015

Asphalt is a series of racing video games developed and published by Gameloft.

Common elements

The series puts emphasis on fast-paced, arcade-style street racing in the vein of Need for Speed, along with elements from other racing games such as Burnout. Each game in the series puts players behind the wheel of licensed sports cars from various manufacturers, from entry-level models such as the Dodge Dart R/T, to supercars like the Bugatti Veyron, and even concept cars such as Mercedes-Benz's Biome design study.[2]

Police chases are a recurring gameplay element especially in the early games, but were de-emphasized in favour of stunt jumps and aerobatic maneuvres as of Airborne; they made a return, however, with Overdrive and Nitro, the latter of which combined elements from Airborne and previous games in the series.

Over the course of the games, players are gradually given access to various race courses, most of which are modelled after real-world locations and major cities, and upgrades for vehicles which can be bought from money earned in a race, or in later games, points or through in-application purchases using real currency. Events are presented in increasing difficulty as players advance through the game, sometimes requiring them to complete bonus challenges, e.g. taking down a given number of opponent racers or finishing the race without wrecking his/her vehicle.

History

The first game in the series is Asphalt Urban GT, which was released for the Nintendo DS and N-Gage on November 21, 2004, with simplified versions for J2ME mobile phones being released in December 2.

Asphalt 4: Elite Racing was the first game in the series to be released for iOS.[3] Asphalt 6: Adrenaline marks the first and so far only game in the series to be released for OS X; later home computer releases in the series are exclusive to Microsoft Windows, with Asphalt 7: Heat being the first to be released on the Windows Store.

Asphalt 8: Airborne, the eighth main installment and tenth title overall, was released in 2013 for iOS, Android, Windows and Blackberry platforms to critical acclaim, becoming one of the bestselling games on the iOS App Store and Google Play Store. Asphalt Nitro, the twelfth title in the series, was quietly released on Gameloft's own app store in May 2015 for Android, alongside a 2.5D J2ME version of the game for feature phones. A main selling point of Nitro was the game's small resource footprint, which was aided by the use of procedural generation.[4]

A free-to-play spinoff entitled Asphalt Overdrive was released for iOS and Android in September 2014.[5] Unlike prior titles in the series, the game is presented as an "endless runner" similar to Temple Run and Subway Surfers, and does not offer a traditional racing mode.

Games

These are the list of games in this series:

References

  1. ↑ "Asphalt D Overview". GameSpy. Retrieved 2011-05-08.
  2. ↑ Nelson, Jared (27 August 2014). "'Asphalt 8: Airborne' Updated with New Dubai Track, 5 New Vehicles, and More". Touch Arcade. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  3. ↑ Davis, Justin (22 June 2012). "A Visual History of Gameloft's Asphalt - IGN". IGN. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  4. ↑ Hoff, John (12 May 2015). "Asphalt Nitro racing game launches exclusively via Gameloft store". Android Community. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  5. ↑ Sinha, Robin (September 25, 2014). "Asphalt Overdrive Now Available to Download for Android and iOS". NDTV Gadgets. NDTV. Retrieved October 30, 2014.

External links

Asphalt Overdrive reviewed on Android Apps Zone

Asphalt 8: Airborne reviewed on Android Apps Zone

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, December 04, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.