Polarbit to Launch Raging Thunder through the App Store

Videos of the Raging Thunder racing game have been floating around YouTube for quite a while. Developer Polarbit has recently confirmed its plans to fully port the title to the iPhone, as it is the platform that best suits Raging Thunder's control scheme. Polarbit hopes to launch the game officially, through the upcoming App Store, but also wishes to address the jailbreak community, to allow as many iPhone owners as possible to become acquainted with its arcade racing title.

In an interview with TUAW (The Unofficial Apple Weblog), Anders Nilsson of Polarbit assures that the Raging Thunder iPhone port is "coming along nicely" and that they're "busy with a redesign of the menu system, which looks a little dated". Things are about to change though, Nilsson assures. "There are also a few other bits and bobs that we hope will increase the appeal of the game even further.", he adds. "Wouldn't it be fun, for example, to race against other iPhone owners instead of just the AI?"

As for the targeted platforms, Nilsson and team are planning to release their arcade-ish racer on all "major high-end mobile platforms" under Symbian, Windows Mobile, Brew, etc. Not all ports will support features like accelerometer, touch-screen and 3D acceleration, since not all handsets sport them, but the developer reveals they've been supporting these control systems and gameplay elements "since well before the iPhone was announced". Nilsson notes that the iPhone's merit is "the integration of these features - how nicely it all works together", adding that "you'd expect nothing less from an Apple product".

Polarbit's racing game is currently available at the Big Boss repository. While not a realistic racing simulator, Raging Thunder manages to offer immersive gameplay mechanics, responsiveness, precise controls and rich, beautiful graphics. In the world of Raging Thunder there are no such things as "too narrow turns" or "impossible overtakes", Polarbit asserts, "and luckily, definitely no such things as 'traffic control officers'".