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Dreamway from Handy Entertainment
January 30, 2004
Dreamway is one of the best racing games I’ve ever played. Not just on a Palm OS device, but on any platform— including the Game Boy Advance and the PS2. That could be due to my bias towards arcade fun as opposed to incredible realism, especially considering that I’d rather play Dreamway than Gran Turismo 3. The game is challenging, but not frustrating, as so many other racers tend to be— make the *tiniest* mustake, and all of a sudden you find yourself at the back of the pack. Not so with Dreamway, as it is possible to recover, and sometimes even win the race.
Let’s get started with the basics though— Dreamway is available for Palm OS 5 devices such as the palmOne Tungsten series, Zire 71, Sony NX and UX series, and the Tapwave Zodiac. It takes about 4.6MB of space, and it’s worth every bit of it. For someone like me, who doesn’t like to read manuals and partly bases review scores on how easy programs are to “figure out” and use, Dreamway is like a breath of fresh air. There’s no detailed manual, and you really don’t need one. The interface is clean and uncluttered, and uses very few words. Just start up the game and tap the steering wheel to start a game or the hammer and wrench to customize your settings. There are three different gameplay modes to choose from— single race, Championship Cup, and Knockout, where the last car in each lap gets eliminated. Single race is of course great for those times that you don’t have a lot of time, and Championship Cup is a lengthier challenge. If you’re successful, you can unlock new cars and tracks; the full game contains seven cars and six different tracks, with the promise of future expansion packs that will offer even more choices.
Part of what makes Dreamway so fun is the clever power-up system. You’ll find several power-ups on each track, and they’re all quite varied. You never know if you’re going to get a speed boost to help you go faster or some diabolical tricks to play on your oppoments, such as a bomb, a missile, an oil slick, or even some spikes to throw on the track and puncture their tires! A single button press is all it takes to use a powerup; for the rest of the game you have the choice of stylus control or buttons, including the analog joystick if you happen to be playing on the Tapwave Zodiac. Stylus control is a bit easier in the beginning, but once you have some practice the buttons become an even more comfortable way to play. One thing I really like is the intelligent button mapping that takes into account all of the extra buttons on a Zodiac. Instead of restricting me to a list of buttons, all I have to do is choose the action I want to map, like acceleration, breaking, or turning left or right, and then press the button that I want to use for that action. Logical, simple, and very fast.
Gameplay is smooth as a dream— fast, challenging, and fun. The variable difficulty rating, from “Rookie” to “Nightmare” ensures that everyone can have fun with this game, instead of being insanely frustrated. The sound effects are fun as well— enjoyable but not overdone. I just love the squeal of my opponent’s tires as they hit the oil slick I poured out for them, or the sound of their tires popping when they hit somes spikes in the road. I’ve never been much of a speed junkie, but Dreamway is changing all of that— I keep trying the courses over and over to try and win first place, to get better times, and just for revenge— beating out those other cars that did me in during the last race. It’s just plain addictive, and I haven’t been able to get much work done for days!
Dreamway normally sells for $19.95, but I’ve worked out an exclusive discount for PocketGoddess readers. Use this coupon code for a 10% discount at Handango: 762926. Just type it in at checkout, and get a great racing game for a great price! There’s also a free trial at the the Handy Entertainment web site. As you can tell from my PocketGoddess “Perfect 10” rating, Dreamway is one of the best racing games I’ve ever seen, and well worth the money. So what are you waiting for?
PocketGoddess Rating for Dreamway from Handy Entertainment: 
