Asphalt 5

Asphalt 5 continued the path started by the fourth installment, but in 2009 it also launched on the first generation of smartphones - alongside classic Java-based phones, it appeared on the iPhone, where it used touch controls via tilting the phone and tapping the screen instead of physical buttons. Gameloft added a more open take on cities as the game environment, destructible elements around the track - crates, fences, traffic signs - and a broader range of sports and exotic cars, which at the time was among the best mobile racing had to offer.

The gameplay stayed true to the series' arcade spirit - no realistic physics, but plenty of controlled drifts, nitro, and a dramatic camera during jumps and crashes that gave the races their proper dose of spectacle. The switch to touch controls in the iPhone version marked a noticeable difference from previous entries controlled via a phone keypad - the game suddenly had to be tilted in the player's hand, which was a new and not entirely obvious control method at the time, one that had to be re-tuned so races stayed fun even without physical arrow buttons. Developers also had to figure out how to calibrate gyroscope sensitivity so that even players with no experience of similar phones could handle the game.

Why play it: Asphalt 5 is an interesting moment in the genre's history - it shows mobile racing's transition from keypad phones to touchscreen smartphones. Players who enjoy short arcade races and want to see how Gameloft adapted to this control shift will find exactly that milestone here, between two eras of mobile gaming - right before touch controls and tilt-based gyroscopes became standard in all mobile racers.