Supercar Showdown: Ferrari GT vs Asphalt 4 Elite Racing for iPhone

In Ferrari GT and Asphalt 4, Gameloft has provided two of the iPhone’s top premium price racing titles. From looking at the App Store alone though, it’s a little hard to tell which one is worth shelling out your cash for.

We’ve explored both, and will dissect this high-performance pair until all that’s left is a mound of shiny bits of metal. The analysis will be split into sections representing what we think are the factors most gamers look for in a racing title.

Graphics

There’s no mistaking that these two racers are some of the best-looking games on the app store, but there is nevertheless some distance between them visually. This is undoubtedly in no small part down to the fact that Ferrari GT was released a good three months after Asphalt 4, allowing for some tweaking.

As the games feature different cars and tracks, a direct comparison is tricky, but Ferrari GT does feature more refined car models and less jagged edges to the polygons that make up the backgrounds.

Lots of the textures seem to be more detailed too, resulting in more realistic buildings and more sophisticated weather effects. The road reflections sparked off by environmental light sources in Ferrari GT are most impressive too.

Winner: Ferrari GT


Car Selection

As you might guess from the title, Ferrari GT is all about Ferraris. Although the game features more cars than Asphalt 4- 33 against Asphalt 4’s 28- the fact that every single one of them is a Ferrari does result in a kind of numbness. This is worsened by the way that in the garage where you buy new cars, they’re all shown in the default Ferrari red colour.

Asphalt 4, on the other hand, has a far more varied selection, including all sorts of marques and even motorbikes. Ferrari GT’s 3D models may have the upper hand, but the variation in Asphalt makes a trip to the car dealer a lot more interesting. Unless you’re a Ferrari fanatic that is, but if you are one why would you need this guide?

You also unlock upgrades as you play in Asphalt, although these do feel a tad superficial, even if they do relate to just about every component in the car.

Winner: Asphalt 4


Handling

Car handling is where these two games really show their different strokes. Although both are ostensibly arcade racers, Asphalt 4 is easily the most arcadey of the two. The cars are verging on karts of the Mario variety in the way they slide around the track. That’s not to speak out against the game though. Asphalt’s racing dynamics are more about collecting boost bonuses than a measured approach to controlling your car.

Both rely on powersliding when turning around the tracks’ more extreme bends, but in Ferrari GT, you’ve far greater control over your slides. With careful manoeuvring, you can keep your Ferrari in a slide for as long as any corner lasts.

It’d be wrong to label this difference as realism, but Ferrari GT’s handling feels a lot closer to a console racer than Asphalt 4 and demands more attention. As such, it loses out a little in the accessibility stakes. Once more it’s a case of refinement.

Winner: Ferrari GT


Controls

Both games feature the same three control methods- screen taps where you press the sides of the screen to turn your car, tilt control where you angle your iPhone and the steering wheel option where a wheel appears on-screen and you drag is from left to right with your finger.

The differences are very slight, but Ferrari GT edges Asphalt 4 out in the screen taps mode. In the latter, you’re managing your turning taps against presses of the boost button. The placement of this button does mean it’s a little too easy to press the button accidentally.

In Ferrari GT, you’re managing breaking and turning instead, since there’s no boost function in the game. There’s a brake pedal at the bottom of each side of the screen, meaning you can break with your left thumb as you turn with your right and vice versa. This layout works superbly giving you a sense of mastery over your car, once you get to grips with it that is.

Winner: Ferrari GT, but only just


Structure

As with several other game elements, Asphalt 4 is the most accessible of the turbo twins. The races are laid-out across a world map, clearly showing the cities where you'll get to race throughout the game (see Figure 1).

They are, and let’s take a deep breath for this one, San Francisco, Mumbai, Hawaii, Los Angeles, Paris, Monte Carlo, New York, Shanghai, Dubai, Las Vegas, Rome and St Petersberg. There are four events in each city, from straight race events to challenges where you’re just trying to smash up opponents.

In Ferrari GT, there’s an odd chapter structure that leaves you feeling a little blind to start with. You enter races by replying to emails, which are accessible from the main career menu.

For a while, you’ll be ineligible for a lot of the races, meaning you’ll be left challenging rivals you meet along the way and taking part in generic amateur races. You can check out the available races and challenges using the race calendar (see Fig 2). It’s arguably a more in-depth structure, but it doesn’t really make it clear enough what cities you’ll get to visit further on in the game.

At the start, it seems like you might just be racing through Rome until the end of time. There are actually seven cities to race through, each of which is introduced slowly, rather than letting you play the automotive jet setter. Although Ferrari GT’s approach may be more satisfying in the long run, Asphalt pips it to the post.

Winner: Asphalt 4


Conclusion

It’s hard to grasp quite how different these two racers are when, from looking at the app store alone, one seems like a Ferrari-themed version of the other. The truth is quite different.

Where Asphalt 4 is a frothy racer full of oversized collectable bonuses and opportunities to cause rival races to crash spectacularly into the race barriers, Ferrari GT is far more thoughtful, challenging you to get to grips with the actual handling of the car itself.

Picking one is really a case of deciding the type of racing experience you’re looking for, as these are both highly competent games, but for our money the sophistication and flair of Ferrari GT wins the race.

Winner: Ferrari GT