Race Driver GRID DS - Review Part 2

All these features would make for a fantastic game in their own right, but there's more. A fully functional and easy to use track designer is accessible at any time during the game from your home base. Here, the DS's stylus input makes placing and slotting together tracks of all sizes a breeze. If you played with scalextric/slot cars when you were a child and dreamed of having all the track pieces in the world, this is just about as close as you can get without spending thousands. It really is a joy to design and race circuits using the editor and it is a fantastic use of the DS's unique capabilities.

The track and track locations are varied, the weather changes too

So, with such a wide range of content, the game is already an essential purchase for DS racing fans. To sweeten what is already a very sweet deal, the game includes some fantastic multi-player options too. For local play there's both single card download and multi-card play. You can also take things online via the Nintendo Wifi connection. Online play is simply superb, you can mark certain opponents as "rivals" and can keep track of them without needing to exchange those bothersome Friend Codes. You can even share tracks you have designed and try out your friends tracks too. Stats are tracked from race to race and brilliantly those players who drop-out before the end of the race have their ranking penalised, solving the annoying problem of players who simply quit if you're too good for them (happens to me a lot, no really it does).

So, as you can see, this little game card is a pretty astounding package. Can we level any criticisms at Race Driver GRID DS? I'm pretty sure the game engine is pushing the DS to it's limits and a couple of times when I hit the barrier quite hard I found myself transported to a different part of the track. Luckily it was ahead of the rival racers so I wasn't too annoyed. Visually the game is good, but the cars can look a little blocky close-up, though track side detail is quite impressive. It seems like the game is limited to one model of car per race too, meaning your rivals will always be driving the same vehicle as you. Even the sound effects leave little to complain about, though as with many DS games its better enjoyed with a pair of headphones. The music is a little uninspiring, but can be turned off if needed.

So, as you might have guessed, Race Driver GRID DS is worth cracking out the champagne for. A truly fantastic package that excels in pretty much everything it does. It is difficult to imagine what more DS owning racing fans could ask for in a game card. Race down to the shops and grab this one right now.

9/10

Adjusted Scores

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