App of the Week

Slingshot Racing: 4 cert, Crescent Moon Games, iPad (also iPhone, iPod Touch)

Remember that part in Tim Burton’s Batman when he fired the grappling hook from the Batmobile to take a sharp corner? Pretty cool, huh? A similar device is the cornerstone to Slingshot Racing, a modest but compulsive little racing number. This nifty game combines a steam-punk aesthetic with elements of traditional racers such as Micro Machines and that king of app games (what else?), Angry Birds.

The challenges are familiar (speed trials, races and so on), as is the format (accumulate sufficient scores to unlock subsequent levels). The car drives by itself, so the game requires you to only control

the giant slings that dot the sidelines. The slings attach to your car and manage its steering and acceleration. As you’d expect, the controls are easy to learn, but tricky to conquer. Fun, if dizzying!