Cranks And Goggles

Review

Let’s jump back in time! What about the 1920’s when we used to call racing drivers, “DAREDEVILS”, and they truly were! Driving at speeds above 190 km/h in a big tin can with four wheels without any power steering or automatic gearbox, just a small helmet and a pair of goggles - what an era! Have you got your goggles? Great, me too! Let’s crank our engines and go racing in the 1920’s!

Cranks And Goggles is a top-down racing game set in the 1920’s. As you launch the game, the first thing you will be doing is to customize your driver. It took me quite a while do so, not because it was difficult, just because I was drifting from side to side listening to these fabulous 1920’s tunes!  After drifting to the music and setting up your racer, you will arrive at the lobby screen with a sum of money that has been allocated to you. From here, you can either go to the garage or go racing.

At the garage, you will be able to see cars from all classes (D to A), with their specifications, which are: handling, acceleration and speed, of course. You can purchase new cars if you have the money, and upgrade them too.
Each class has four tracks to race and if you successfully step on the podium (1st, 2nd or 3rd) in each of those races, you will unlock a championship for that particular class before moving up to the next one. The only difference in these sequences is that you will unlock three championships if you triumph in the class A. Each win comes with prize, which is a large sum of money. Accumulate the wins and the money so you can upgrade your car at the garage, or buy your next car.

Races are usually between two to three laps with six racing drivers, including yourself. Depending which car you are using, you might find yourself off the mark in terms of acceleration but will probably catch up with your opponent fairly quickly. What you really have to remember is how good you are on the breaks and at handling your car.  There’s a lot of drifting in this game - well, the roads in the 20’ were not as good as they are now, and the tyres did not have as much grip as they have now.  The safety features around each track are limited to barriers, stacks of tyres, cones and crates. You can bump into the tyres and cones and consequently push them into the middle of the track. If, on your next lap, you run into them to fast, well . . . you will have an accident and probably lose several positions, too!

Difficulty wise, first you can only play with your keyboard, which is challenging but fun. I found the first class quite hard, to be honest, but it seems to become easier as your progress within the game. Cranks and Goggles does have couple of glitches but they are not drastic and you will have fun with this game. Careers and quick race modes are available in this early access, and online mode will come later on.
Fun cell shaded graphics and a great soundtrack add to the enjoyment.   In terms of the controls, you will be using the keyboard and it will take you a bit of time to get used to it.