Overview

Extreme Road Trip is a best-selling racing title for smartphones. It's a very simple homage to classic racing games, complete with pixelated graphics and a chiptune soundtrack. Developer Roofdog Games hired Swedish chiptune artist Magnus Pålsson (aka SoulEye) to score the title, though they only commissioned two tracks altogether. The resultant soundtrack is very brief, but has some charm.

Body

The title theme is a short but fun track that really captures the spirit of racing. The 80s-styled guitar licks here match the retro-styled graphics and bring back strong memories of classic racing soundtracks like OutRun or F1-Spirit with their funky, breezy tones. Everything here is pleasant and catchy, meaning it's always enjoyable to revisit the game's title screen, but nothing is spectacular either. A near-identical rendering was also made for bassless handhelds, which is available as a bonus track.

The ingame music shifts the focus from guitar licks to pure chiptune sounds. This track is in many ways similar to "Positive Force" and "Pushing Onwards" from VVVVVV with its fast pace, bouncy chips, and optimistic melodies. Nevertheless, it continues that distinctive driving mood and even arranges melodies introduced in the title theme. Given this track is repeated continually during gameplay, SoulEye ensured he developed it quite well — there is a lot of variety and build-ups during its 150 second playtime.

Those who purchase the soundtrack through SoulEye's website will receive a secret bonus track, "The Schlong Song". This track features a humorous vocal performance set to traditional guitar strumming. Not all will like it — it's brief, silly, and, as the title suggests, quite vulgar — but it's an interesting little bonus regardless.

Summary

The soundtrack for Extreme Road Trip fits the mood and pace of this little smartphone game, but it's hardly as ambitious in length or style as SoulEye's breakthrough work VVVVVV. The two main tracks will be worthwhile for those that enjoy upbeat old-school driving tunes, just don't expect anything extraordinary. Available for 1 US, it's not a bad deal.