When Finnish game creator Toni Fingerroos, the founder of Fingersoft, created Hill Climb Racing, he had no idea that his project would become a global sensation and, ultimately, his video game company best performing and best-known product. 

First revealed in 2012, Fingersoft’s Hill Climb Racing is a very impressive 2D physics-based racing video game that almost serves as a breath of fresh air. With simple and rudimentary graphics and passive two-button controls, the game makes playing fun, easy, and most importantly, uncluttered.

There are many racing games in the field, but Fingersoft’s success project has managed to become addicting and entertaining. This could easily be tagged as one of the best racing games around.

How to Play the Game

Your player, so named Bill Newton, is a man armed with nothing but extensive knowledge of car building, a huge collection of out-of-whack, vehicles of different kinds invented by Bill himself, and skills that defy nearly every law of physics. Bill sets out to conquer every terrain and hill that poses any challenge on Climb Canyon, his unique hill climbing location with these on his side.

The objective of Fingersoft’s Hill Climb Racing is to challenge how far your player can drive as they struggle past increasingly difficult obstacles. While driving through the 2D terrain, you can collect coins while taking advantage of the not-so-realistic physics at play in the game.

Hill Climb Racing is a game that thrives on simplicity. While you are driving and soaring mid-air, you only have to use only two simple controls: the accelerator pedal and Brake pedals. By pressing on either the gas pedal or the brand pedal, you can help your player to move forward or take a pause on the plane. Still, with these pedals, your player can control the car, causing it to rotate and land at specific angles of your choosing.

You can run out of fuel, as one would with an actual car or in any other car driving game. To replenish your fuel level, you can pick up gas canisters or batteries as you drive along the plane. Driving is not as boring as this game’s deceptive simplicity might suggest. While playing the game, you have the ability to make your car perform different kinds of stunts, including driving your car into the air for a long period of time or flipping the car over as many times as possible. These daredevil stunts are not fun to learn, master, and do, but they can help you earn more coins.

With the coins that you earn while playing the game, you can upgrade or unlock new stages and new and better vehicles. The vehicle upgrades offered are also impressive, and the list includes monster trucks, dirt bikes, tanks, and even a Santa’s sleigh. In recent updates, players can now purchase more car upgrades and the ability to tune the different parts of the vehicles purchased.

Major Strengths of the Game

Since Fingersoft first launched this game in 2012, the video game developer has been nothing but consistent. Considering the game is one of the company’s best performers, they have continuously updated and evolved it. It would be nearly unfair not to commend the company’s consistency and evolution-centric mindset.

Hill Climb Racing is also a great way to have fun with many impressive and inventive vehicles with unique upgrades. There is undoubtedly something for everyone, from a drag racer to a tank and even a monster truck. Not only did I enjoy the array of more than 28 vehicles, but I also had a lot of fun with being able to upgrade various car parts while playing and progressing across the different stages and their unique graphics, hazards & challenges.

The graphics were great and simplistic but still as smooth as they could be. The designer certainly prioritized quality as the game renders excellently on both low-resolution and high-resolution devices. There is also an option to play in garage mode, allowing you to design, build, and drive your own custom vehicle!

Flaws Spotted in the Game

While Hill Climb Racing’s simple and rudimentary design makes it to the top of the list of its strengths, it also finds itself on the list of its flaws. The exaggerated physics engine makes the game challenging without being impossible. 

After a while, I must admit that driving a vehicle on the same plane with varying appearances and the same sound playing started to seem a little too unengaging and repetitive. When the game seemingly continued on and on without reaching its anticipated end, I found myself wanting to put it down for a bit and find something else to do. 

Final Verdict

In conclusion, Hill Climb Racing is a great game to play and use to kill some time. It is fun and entertaining, and I find myself playing it for several hours at a stretch. The game is a simple yet interesting game. Despite having the most basic graphics and controls, Bill Newton’s races are challenging, his vehicles and gears are still cool and fun to work with.

Bill, the different levels posed against you and your player embark on a long journey across Climb Canyon that challenges your patience and concentration skills. With Hill Climb Racing, you can bust out the monster wheels and grind into the dirt for some intense racing action. Of course, playing in the same format may become tiresome after several hours, but the game is one you can always return to and enjoy.