NASCAR fans and origami collectors unite! Grab your paper cranes and giant foam fingers, and prepare for one of the most beautiful races you've ever seen. Scenic is a new game from Bobblebrook (creators of Twizzle, Coign of Vantage, and A Good Hunch) combining elegant digitally-rendered landscapes with F-Zero-style racing.
Rather than resembling fighter jets and bombers, the gliders in Scenic are origami birds, Swallows for beginners, Floaters for intermediate fliers, and Steamrunners for those talented enough to complete the advanced tour. 
These delicate figures seem right at home as they soar across colorful scenes. The crystal blue track, for instance, seems to take place inside a multi-faceted sapphire gem. The backgrounds of other tracks vary from futuristic to fantastically surreal.
Don't be fooled into gawking at the landscape, however tempting it may seem. Scenic is an intense, fast-paced racing game. Three other gliders are vying for first place. To unlock new tracks, you must outmaneuver the others, and cross the finish line. Once you've completed the beginning tour, you can move on to more advanced races, or return to your favorite scenes for time trials.
Scenic offers two different ways to control your glider, either with the mouse or the arrow keys. A bar across the bottom of the screen shows how far your glider is turning. If using the mouse, you can steer by holding the cursor over this bar. Holding either the spacebar or the mouse button down causes the glider to accelerate. The glider will brake immediately when the key or button is released. These controls are sensitive, yet smooth. So, once you get the hang of it, flying through these mystical landscapes feels almost natural.
According to Phillip, this game was built using their own 3D engine, which they plan to build future games with until the native 3D features in Flash 10 become more accessible. The beautiful environments in Scenic combined with the smooth navigation of the gliders are a promising start for this homegrown technology. The only real fault in the game might be its intensity. The game takes a while to load, even on fast computers. There is an option for lower quality graphics, which promise to speed things up, but this isn't available until the game is already loaded. The slow loading time is well worth the wait, for even at high speeds, Scenic is a wonderfully relaxing experience.
Ya know, I wanted to enjoy this, but the first three tracks I played were just boring. It's a TINY window, with a pseudo-3D playing field, on flat tracks, with almost nothing to look at or do.
It reminds me of a very stripped-down version of Need for Speed. The original one. From 1995 (PC version).
Suffice to say, just not my cup o' tea.
Unlike OverZealous, I wanted to enjoy it and DID enjoy it. The scenery is lovely, the green mushroom level reminded me of the forest in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Aesthetically pleasing, and the controls were easy to use and maintain. Quite a lovely distraction.
Man... GLASSES. To say "enjoy the scenery" while deliberately simulating 20/90 myopia makes me question this game's motives.
Wow, I hit 7th place on the Advanced Tour on my first try with the Swallow. The Advanced Tour felt easy acually. Maybe the AI could have been a bit smarter. They seemed to struggle around corners. The last track was easier than the other 3.
Just played through the Beginner tour. Being a fan of F-Zero, I rather enjoyed this one. It's quite nice-looking, even if textures get a little bit blurry. (And I do have nasty myopia, so maybe I'm just not noticing the difference? XD)
Beautiful artwork, great sceneries - but a not more than average racing game. Control is too simplified yet not too effective - not a game to get addicted to.
A very nice diversion though.
That pair of goats I saw beside the track in Autumn Red 1 looked awfully familiar...
Nice find. Reminds me of Wipeout on the 1st PS.
Thanks
Visually, it is impressive, but the controls aren't too terribly responsive. A wider screen and much more precise controls would push this game over a 3.
Now THAT is some nice visuals, but sadly for my taste the blur is WAY exaggerated, I mean, stuff that is just like, 2 metres from you is blurred a lot.
Very elegant, nicely done game. Very reminiscent of F-Zero for the Super Nintendo, which has always been one of my favorite games. Now all it needs is more levels. And for the opponents to be driving a variety of different plane types.
It would be nice if you could zoom in the camera a little more. Collision with the other racers and the walls is very predictable, but doesn't quite jive with how big the racers are in comparison with the scenery.
Also, all my maps were mirrored.
Well, as someone who rarely plays this kind of game, I was glad that there was finally something of this nature that I could play with my touchpad. It took a bit to get the hang of it, but once I did it was great.
My only complaint is that in race after race the game lagged when crossing from Lap 1 to Lap 2, which always caused me to over correct.
But I have to say that since racing games normally get a 1 from me, this one gets a 4.
Hi Sarah, I'm glad we found a racing game you enjoy. ^_^
However, I'd like to comment on your rating habits (and anyone else who feels the same way):
If you don't normally play a game of a certain genre, then why give it a 1 rating? That's hardly fair to the developer who created it.
If you don't like a particular genre, then please refrain from giving it a rating.
Ratings should be left for those who actually play a game and rate it on its relative merits.
Thanks! :)
for a game called "scenic" the scenery wasn't all that impressive, but i did like the origami planes. i also though the pixelated "focus" effect was really bad.
Yeah, Jay, you're right. Rating a game based on anything but that particular game - doesn't really seem fair.
Nice visual effects that I think could be better put to use in a game where you had the time to appreciate them more. I didn't find that I had any time to enjoy the scenery.
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