Speed Stars is a new foot racing game for the iOS and Android platforms. You have to tap correctly in order to run as quickly as possible. You can race in 100, 200, 400 meter races, and a whole lot more, including races that involve hurdles, and your goal is to build your skills enough to finish in first place.
The free version of the this game allows you to race in the 100 meter mode only, but the paid version of this game, which costs only $.99, allows you to race in all of the other different game modes. We have tips and tricks for every single one of the modes included within this game here!
Read on for some tips and tricks for Speed Stars, both the free version and the paid version!
This game is all about tapping correctly in order to run as quickly as possible. It takes a massive amount of practice to get the tapping down, so be sure to practice in the 100 meter mode before you go to any other modes.
Tapping at the highest possible speed is not how you win races in this game, unlike most other track and field racing games. You have to tap at the correct cadence, rather than simply tapping as quickly as possible. In general, your best bet is to tap at 240 bpm, although this also changes depending on whether or not you are just beginning the race, and whether or not you are doing hurdle runs.
You have to release your fingers extremely quickly as well, or else your runner will simply keep their legs down and slow down the run. Tap and release extremely quickly, and be sure not to keep your fingers held down on the screen longer than that you have to.
Another extremely important tip in this game is to make sure to start every race with your left finger and not your right finger. Tap with the left finger to begin and you will make a perfect start. If you tap with your right finger, then your runner will stumble out of the gate and you will have to make up significantly more ground in order to win the race.
This applies to every single race that is contained within this game, whether it’s the standard races or the hurdle races. In every single race that you run, your first tap should always be the left finger and not the right finger. A strong start can give you a significant amount of ground in a race, especially in one of the shorter races.
One interesting quirk about this game is that there are absolutely no upgrades that you can do for your runner that will increase their speed. Winning and losing races is all about tapping correctly, with absolutely no upgrades to help you along or any sort of currency within the game that can allow you to purchase upgrades; your placing and your success is entirely dependent on your tapping.
This might be a little bit annoying at first, especially if you are used to games with loot boxes where you have to grind for equipment and prizes, but the game is very old-school in this manner. When you compare your best score to the best scores of other users, you can scan them knowing that nobody bought their way to the top. Except for the hackers, the fastest run times are truly the people with the best skill at the game.
When you first download the game, the only available play mode will be the 100 meter race. If you plan on paying the small price to purchase the rest of the races, then be sure to practice in the 100 meter mode first so that you know that you have the rhythm down, and so that you know whether or not the game is right for you.
After you purchase the paid version of the game, then the 200 meter race becomes the best one to practice on, because you get more taps per race, and you can watch the speed of your runner change in real time. 400 meter races are also good for practicing, but they also have the added complication of having to stop and slow things down there so that your runner can keep their stamina high. More on that later.
The exception to this is if you want to specifically practice tapping at the very beginning of the race, at which 60m would then be the best race to practice on, because it’s the shortest. Starting is very important to practice, so you want to practice getting the fastest start possible as much as possible. again, always start with your left finger.
Or, to practice your starting tapping, simply start the race, takeoff, pause, then restart, and then do it all over again. Do this and keep practicing your starting speed until you are confident in it. again, make sure you are always starting by tapping the left side of the screen and not the right side of the screen.
Additionally, there are two different hurdle races that unlock when you make the full game purchase. These are going to have a different tapping rhythm just by nature of how different they are than the regular game modes, so be prepared for that and be prepared to practice all over again when you play them. Keep reading for our strategies to beating the hurdles.
With one of the more recent updates to the game, a significant number of new options have been added. The most impactful out of all of them is the ability to choose whether your competition consists of bots, real players online, or a time trial mode where you only compete against yourself and your old times.
These not only change the competitive balance, but can make things feel a little bit less difficult, or more difficult depending on if that is your goal or not. as you increase your experience playing this game and get better at it, typically you’re going to want to start facing more difficult opponents than you did when you first downloaded the game.
There is also a checkbox that allows you to enable racing against your ghost. This will make it so that one of the runners is you, and your ghost will be running either your all-time best score, or you will have two different ghosts running your top two times.
Additionally, in the options menu, you can also change the theme of the stadium in order to give the game an entirely different look. There are multiple different themes that you can pick from, and every single one of them is completely free, without having to pay for any of them.
Other graphical options include being able to change both the stretch and the zoom of your screen, both of which can be done in the options menu. This completely changes the appearance of the race itself, and allows you to choose how much of the rest of the field are you see, or how much of the screen is filled up by your own character.
You can also turn the sound on and off by hitting the speaker button in the lower left corner of the main screen, which is especially useful if you are playing music on your phone and your kids are playing the game in the car.
Whether you are in the free or paid version of this game, you can fully customize the appearance of your runner. You will start with the default runner, but if you hit one of the arrow buttons, you will move to your custom runner. Your custom runner looks the same as your default runner at first, but you can change their appearance completely.
If you actually want to change the performance of your runner, then go to the body option and hit the arrows to scroll between body types. Different body types have different amounts of power and stamina. Power refers to how much acceleration and speed that that will gain, while stamina refers to how long they can run for without tiring out. Runners with high power and low stamina are best for the short races, while runners with low power and high stamina are best for the long races.
All of the other options are purely cosmetic. You can change every bit of clothes that your runner wears, from your top to your pants to your leggings to your shoes, and more. Use the arrow buttons to pick a different styles, and then use the color selector to choose your favorite colorway and make your runner look exactly how you want them to look.
You can save up to 10 custom runners at a time. While this is useful for cosmetic customizations for those that are into that, this is best used to save runners with different body types, so that you can use them in different races. This will give you a significant performance advantage.
As we stated in the first half of this guide, when you purchase the full game, you will unlock a number of other racing modes. This is a permanent unlock, and the cost is only $.99, or whatever the equivalent is in your local currency. Additionally, this small purchase will also make all of the advertisements disappear.
The first new mode that you unlock is the 200m race, and the second new mode is the 400m race. Due to these races being two times as long and four times as long as the original 100m game mode, in these modes it is more important to keep a steady consistent rhythm, and you have more room for error as far as a slow start.
In the longer races, you have a new situation to deal with, which is getting tired in the middle of the race. You will be able to see this happening because sweat will pour off of your character. When your character begins to sweat, slow down to a jog until you don’t see the sweat anymore.
You can also slow down halfway through the race before you even see the sweat start to form. Maintain a consistent moderate pace for a little bit, and then when the time is right, start sprinting again in order to either retake or maintain the first place and win the race.
The third new game mode, interestingly enough, is the 60m race, which is significantly shorter than the 100m race that you initially begin the game with. In this mode, unlike the prior to, it is extremely important to get off to a strong start. Bad tapping in the later part of the race can be more easily covered up by getting a very strong start.
The next new game mode, which is a completely unique one, is the 110m hurdles. The hurdle races are much different, as you have to swipe in any direction on the screen in order to make your character jump over a hurdle, and then continue running with your normal rhythm when you pass the hurdle. The hurdles are also very difficult to time, and initially, you will be knocking them down left and right.
The other new game mode that you can unlock is the 400m hurdles, which are similar to 110, but just like the longer races before, a stronger start is less important than maintaining a consistent rhythm. That rhythm is much more difficult to do because of the hurdle swipes, though, making this a race with a difficult learning curve.
Additionally, you have another curveball in the 400 meter hurdle mode as well, which is that not only do you have to jump over the hurdles, but you also have to rest midway through the race and slow down in order to stop your runner from getting overly tired. With all of the added complications here, this can be considered the most difficult race in the game.
In order to practice your hurdle timing, it’s best to practice on the 400m hurdles rather than 110, because there are so many more of them that you will get far more hurdle swipes per race that you do. With all of these hurdle swipes, you will rapidly be able to build your muscle memory.
Race day puts you into a different race, which changes every day. No matter what you have chosen in the options menu, every single one of your races will be against a live competition, and the difficulty of your competition will depend on what your past run time is, so make sure you have your best stuff when you race.
Additionally, make sure you have a full spectrum of custom runners saved that you can use during race day. Be sure to keep runners with high power for short distance races, runners with high stamina for long distance races, and runners with balanced statistics for the medium distance races.
Additionally, make sure that your internet connection is strong, so that you do not get kicked out of the race in the middle of the run, and so that your taps don’t either get lost in the ether or accepted at the wrong time. A bad connection can also lead to a delayed start of the race.
These are all of the game modes that exist within the full game so far, but it’s entirely possible that with a future update to the game, another new game mode, or even multiple new game modes, will be put in.
Be sure to enable automatic updates or to update the game manually within the App Store in order to get any new game modes that the developers add to the game, as well as any other cool bonuses.
james
Monday 7th of August 2023
Why did you say that the 400 hurdle race has more hurdles than the 110. They both have the same amount of hurdles at 10 hurdles.