Race Driver: Create and Race (Nintendo DS) Review

Racing games on the Nintendo DS never look particularly attractive, even if the system supposedly has the same raw power as the Nintendo 64. Sadly this means not only are car models usually frightfully ugly, but course backdrops are either extremely jagged in appearance, pop-up out of nowhere due to a very short draw-distance or are superbly bland due to the developer removing most aspects to keep the speed as high as possible. And then there is the actual issue of the speed itself, which despite the removal of track-side features, can normally be pretty woeful as soon as more than two cars appear on-screen at any one time. Thankfully Race Drive avoids all of these specific pitfalls by starting from the ground-up and tailoring the developer's specialist game engine (the second evolution of 'Octane') to suit the strict requirements of the limited DS hardware.

The result? A game that blows away the competition and is truly fantastic to see in motion. Sure, the car models look a little pixellated up-close and in static screenshots, but the angle at which you drive leaves enough distance between your eyes and the cars make this hardly noticeable. There is even a plentiful supply of trackside detail, with seating areas, large trees and various other paraphernalia that you would associate with the racing environment, such as tyre stacks. And damn is it fast! Locked at 60fps you really can feel the difference as your vehicle zooms around the numerous courses at break-neck speed...and, as expected, it seems even faster if you switch from the behind-the-car camera to through the windscreen! The best 3D racing on the DS without a doubt...

It is a shame then that the audio element of Race Driver lets the presentation side down considerably. Okay, so this is a realistic racing game, but some non-intrusive background music would have been appreciated during races, or even the odd bit of voice work warning you of approaching corners and hazards; just something to break the monotony. However, there is nothing, just the endless drone of the vehicle's engine, which will drive you crazy after a short while. Also, the tunes played during the various menus are really poor and certainly not pleasing on the ears, so the tendency is to just turn the volume off and crank up your tunes on a CD player.

There are a large amount of positive sides to Race Driver, though, and so many reasons to keep coming back to it that you will be hard-pressed to find time for any other racing games this year. First up, there is the main tournament on offer that is not purely a few races strung together, but a comprehensive mode with a wide selection of stages to compete in (forty-five real world circuits, to be precise!). Each level is split into two or more different race types, each using alternative vehicle classes to increase the game's variety (again, for the sake of completeness, there are twenty-four licensed cars in total, all of which handle slightly differently). Within each race group there are several tracks to race on, with you accumulating points depending on your final position and your overall total determining whether or not you qualify for the next level. Remember, no cheating is allowed either, with disqualification coming to those who try short-cuts or drive dangerously!

The handling of each vehicle type, ranging from standard race cars to even large trucks, varies so much that even though you might feel you are an expert to start with, suddenly you will be faced with something like the drag racing style of vehicle, with its loose handling and prone-to-skidding-round-corners-easily characteristics and suddenly you become an amateur once more. The handling is not just a case of the developer randomly switching things around, either, since Firebrand has painstakingly worked real-life physics into Race Driver and squeezed realistic car handling based upon simulations into the game in order to provide the best possible feel when using the D-pad for steering. Whilst the touch-screen is not used during racing (thankfully, in all honesty), the dual-screen use is well-implemented with the course layout on one and the actual racing action on the other, along with a gauge on the right-hand part of the map screen that shows just how badly damaged your vehicle currently is (gears, tyres, engine and so on).

Race Driver exudes a great sense of arcade fun, with the game being simple enough to pick-up-and-play and yet balances it out perfectly with the amount of realism poured into the final package. This means that both veteran TOCA Race Driver fans will feel right at home, yet the casual DS market will not be completely alienated and overwhelmed when approaching the title. As well as the main world tournament, there is a pro tournament mode to unlock, plus the default choices of 'Simulation' (which includes Free Race, Time Trial and Challenge

For someone that has never taken to the rally driving genre, instead preferring more light-hearted games such as Mario Kart or full-on arcade racing in the form of Ridge Racer, Race Driver: Create and Race comes as a massive shock to the system in just how accessible and endearing it is, yet clearly it retains all of the elements of previous TOCA-style efforts that have appeared in the past. If Firebrand can win over someone as stubborn as myself with its first attempt at realistic DS racing, then surely the rest of the nation will be sorely tempted to try this out. Whatever the case, it deserves strong sales so that its future on Nintendo formats is solidified and an eventual Wii version is considered as well. Do not overlook this genuinely brilliant racing experience.