The title of the game is a pointer to the biggest change compared to
its predecessor. Asphalt 8: Airborne rewards for tricks you perform
while you are in the air, like doing Barrel Rolls or Flat Spin jumps.
You can do Barrel Rolls by driving onto one of the many angled ramps
present on the track, letting a mix of gravity and momentum do the rest.
In most cases you can trust that you'll land safely, unless you really
messed up the approach. Flat Spin jumps are a bit tricker to perfect, as
they require you go off a ramp while drifting (braking the car at high
speed while steering it), and the success or failure depends on the
angle of your approach.

You can play Asphalt 8: Airborne in various modes including World
Series (Multiplayer over the Internet), a local Wi-Fi race, a quick Solo
race, or the Career mode. The main screen of the game can be a little
intimidating, and it takes a while to figure out the various options.

In Career mode, you start with a car and a pretty minimal budget, and
try to earn more money by winning races and performing tricks. As you
go along, you also have the opportunity to pick up stars that unlock the
next racing events within the season. You can pick up to five stars at
each event, with 3 based on where you finish (1 star for finishing
third, 3 stars for winning the race) and two additional stars for
achieving event-specific objectives like doing the specified number of
Barrel Rolls, Knockdowns, Perfect Nitro Triggers etc.

Asphalt 8: Airborne features excellent graphics though you may need
the latest devices to enjoy them to the maximum. The game stuttered at
times on our iPhone 4S, though our third-generation iPad handled
everything without any hiccups. However, we liked the fact that we could
seamlessly switch from one device to the other and the game was able to
sync our progress via the cloud using the Game Center ID for
authentication.

Coming to the actual gameplay, the default controls for Asphalt 8:
Airborne feature tilt to steer, auto-acceleration, with taps on the left
and right edge of the screen to brake (drift) and nitro-boost
respectively. You can of course change the controls to get tap-to-steer
and manual acceleration, if that's what you prefer. The in-game music is
pretty good, with an option to choose between Bass, Rock, and
Electronic music.

It's quite easy to start playing Asphalt 8: Airborne, but
surprisingly difficult to actually win a race, especially with the
crummy car you start with. You can upgrade your car by making an in-app
purchase, or by working your way up by winning races - did we mention
how difficult that is? You can drive a near perfect race, and still find
yourself unable to overtake the five AI-controlled cars. Maybe that's
just us, and the petrolheads out there would do a better job.

Each event in a season is associated with a city. So you can be
driving across the desert in Nevada in one event, and find yourself
speeding through the streets of Tokyo in another. You'll go through
tunnels, avoid oncoming traffic, and even discover a shortcut or two
along the way. We personally liked the ability to take a different route
compared to the other racers, though it does come with mixed results -
sometimes you gain an edge, and at other times you end up going around
in circles without getting anywhere.

Asphalt 8: Airborne is just $0.99 for
iOS (universal app for iPhone and iPad) as well as
Android.
At the price, the game is a must download, especially if you have the
latest hardware and don't mind slowly working your way to the top.