If there ever was one racing game that every iPhone-using person on this planet should have on his or her phone, it’s Firemint’s Real Racing.

Combining upstanding graphics with a detailed career mode and easy-to-understand controls, Real Racing set a new standard on how car racing games were viewed on the iPhone. Some have even called it the equivalent of the Gran Turismo->ke3689 franchise on the Playstation. That’s how universally loved Real Racing was.

Now, Firemint Games is releasing Real Racing 2, the second installment of the game franchise on the iPhone->ke3555. And if you’re a fan of these type of games, then it’s absolutely imperative that you have this one on your iPhones too. You haven’t played a real racing game on that console until you begin playing Real Racing 2.

Details after the jump.

Graphics

There really isn’t a whole lot to say about the graphics other than the fact that Firemint hit another grand slam way out of the ballpark with it. The details on the cars are really tight, making them look completely like their life-sized counterparts. For the higher-spec consoles, this type of graphic is just good enough, but for a unit like the iPhone, it’s absolutely gorgeous.

Controls

For the second installment of the successful Real Racing franchise, Firemint has come out and offered five different control schemes with ‘flipped’ versions for two of the schemes.

To control the game using Method A, all you need to do is steer your car by tilting your device and touching the screen whenever you need to brake. This method runs on automatic acceleration so you won’t have to worry about that.

For Method B, the steering remains the same (tilt your device), but acceleration becomes manual as you have to press the right side of the screen. Braking would then entail pressing the left side of the screen.

Method C becomes a little more complicated because you’re going to have to steer your car left or right on the left side of the screen, while braking is done by touching the left side of the screen. Similar to Method A, Method C relies on automatic acceleration. Method C also has a ‘flipped’ version where the steering is done on the right side of the screen, whereas braking is done on the left side of the screen.

Method D is a lot trickier than other methods because you’re going to have to use three icons to successfully win races. The steering is done on the left side of the screen with the acceleration done by touching the bottom right corner of the screen and braking is done by touching the middle right side of the screen. Confusing, isn’t it? Similar to Method C, Method D has its own ’flipped’ version where you can steer your car by sliding the wheel left and right on the right side of the screen. Acceleration also becomes a manual task that you’re going to need to do by touching the bottom left corner of the screen. Meanwhile, braking is achieved by touching the middle left side of the screen.

Last, but not least, is Method E. In this method, you’re going to have to steer left and right by touching the left and right sides of the screen with braking accomplished by touching the middle of the screen.

Gameplay

Real Racing 2 expands on the career mode of its predecessor allowing gamers to enjoy over 10 hours of actual gameplay.

In career mode, you start off as a neophyte preparing to break ground in the high-speed world of auto racing. You’re going to have to navigate your way around five different Tiers – Club Division, State Showdown, Grand National, Pro Circuit, and World Series - with each tier having its own set of difficulties. The five Tiers have a total of 44 events and 83 races, much of which you’ll have to unlock as you progress in the game. Each of the events have their own requirements for entry, a prize money, and Reputation awards.

Real Racing 2 has five different event types: Cup races, Head-to-Head races, Championships, Time Trial challenges, and Eliminations. The Cup races involve one-off races against 15 different opponents. Head-to-Head races pit you against one opponent. Championships are a series of races that you’ll have to participate in against 15 other opponents. Time Trial challenges are what the name suggests: you against the clock. Finally, Elimination events involve a three-lap race against four competitors where the last place of every lap gets eliminated from the race.

Requirements for entry in Career mode begin easy, but they steadily get more difficult as you progress in the game. For the first Tier, the only thing you need is to purchase a car – there are 30 officially licensed cars in the game. From there, all subsequent Tiers will require that you be placed in at least two championships from the previous Tier before you make the jump to the next level. Some races will also require Reputation Points, making it even more important for you to build your reputation by winning races, or at least placing in them. Placing in races also allows you to win more Prize Money, which you can use to buy cars, customize your existing cars, or enter into other championship events.

Pricing

Real Racing 2 will drop in app stores on December 16th, 2010 for $9.99.

Awesome Scale

We've yet to get a hold of the game so we're going to reserve our judgments on handing out a score. But given the first game's overwhelmingly positive feedback, we're optimistic that this new game is going to be as good - maybe even better - than its predecessor.