"Normal" DS racers: good, bad and ugly

UncleSporky

I'm primarily making this thread to ask about Asphalt Urban GT 2, but I thought I'd open it up to reviews of any of the "normal" DS racing games; that is, not Mario Kart, DKR, Snowboard Kids etc. The ones with cars that are typically weaponless simulations.

About Asphalt Urban, I bought the first one at launch and it tided me over during part of the initial drought pretty well. I liked the Gran Turismo-style customization/garage mixed with the arcadey style of play (breaking stuff for nitros). How does the second one stack up against the first and against some of the other DS racers such as the Need for Speeds? Anybody enjoy these DS simulation racers, or are they just not doing too well for some reason? I know Burnout was ghastly.

NFS Carbon looks decent


NFS Underground


Ridge Racer DS, touchscreen controls shoehorned and terrible, so they say


AUGT2 certainly looks best to me

AlphaTwo

I've been raving about Asphalt 2 for a while now. It's the best semi-realisitic looking racing expereince. It's like burnout, only better than the DS one.

Mind you, the AI is dumb as nails, there are quite a bit of clipping issues (not that it hinders the gameplay).

Xieflow

Ridge Racer DS was ok, especially for $10.
Burnout DS is a steaming pile of shit.

Lemming

AUGT wasn't that bad. I actually played it a fair bit (came as a pack-in with my DS).

citizen059

I love my DS but I also love racing games...so the DS disappoints me a lot.

I look at TOCA and the F1 series on the PSP and I get jealous.

I haven't really liked the NFS games on the DS. Urban GT 1 was okay, but only because there wasn't anything better.

Einhander

This thread is cool, because I have it bad for racing games and will probably be picking up a DS Lite around the end of next month.

Are we talking about non-arcade GBA racing games as well?

malerik

ridge racer is a lot better than people give it credit for. its the original ridge racer, but with more cars and tracks! sure the analog steering sucks balls, but then the original game never had analog controls, so what do i care?

Carbon is certainly pretty, but its a little boring. You dont... DO much. In ridge you powerslide and have a time limit, in burnout you smash things and boost, in asphault you dodge cops (i think) and do boosting. In nfs its a little more about how well you drive, and i drive rubbish, so i need my add-ons.

Resident0

malerik wrote: »

ridge racer is a lot better than people give it credit for. its the original ridge racer, but with more cars and tracks

No it's not the original Ridge Racer, it's a port of Ridge Racer 64, it's completely different from Ridge Racer PSX, which is tons better.

RR64 was a poor mans port with slipshod controls and terrible music.

Ridge Racer PSX was the awesome arcade original with a full streaming-audio soundtrack.

Rotterdam Nation FTW!

UncleSporky

Einhander wrote: »

Are we talking about non-arcade GBA racing games as well?

If you want. I don't know too much about them, but I know there was one that attempted to do 3D and was impressive for GBA but not very good-looking, and there was another one with a slightly overhead/3/4ths view that looked awesome.

EDIT: This is actually very good 3D for GBA.

And this is the other game I was thinking of, Racing Gears Advance:






Videos

smallmouth

I had both Ridge Racer and AUGT2. I thought they were both terrible. I keep hoping the non-kart racing games won't be awful and am consistently deceived into buying them.

Ridge Racer doesn't have to use the touch controls. But it's still terrible.

The screenshots of AUGT2 in the OP actually look better than it does in motion, which is odd for a DS game. It's usually the opposite.

malerik

Resident0 wrote: »

malerik wrote: »

ridge racer is a lot better than people give it credit for. its the original ridge racer, but with more cars and tracks

No it's not the original Ridge Racer, it's a port of Ridge Racer 64, it's completely different from Ridge Racer PSX, which is tons better.

RR64 was a poor mans port with slipshod controls and terrible music.

Ridge Racer PSX was the awesome arcade original with a full streaming-audio soundtrack.

Rotterdam Nation FTW!

Really? The only ways I've played ridge racer were in the arcade and on my psx with the special reworked one that got given away with ridge type 4. It seems pretty much the same to me, but then I don't really listen to the music. The announcer guy is always yelling over it for one thing, and the original ridge loaded entirely into the psx's memory, so i could switch the cd out and put in my own cd for custom soundtracks!

Now THAT is something the DS could use, how about a device that slots into the gba port that can hold mp3s to be used as a custom soundtrack in games? I think that would be nice. Theres probably some reason it wouldn't be able to work though.

Dodge Aspen

UncleSporky wrote: »

Einhander wrote: »

Are we talking about non-arcade GBA racing games as well?

If you want. I don't know too much about them, but I know there was one that attempted to do 3D and was impressive for GBA but not very good-looking, and there was another one with a slightly overhead/3/4ths view that looked awesome.

EDIT: This is actually very good 3D for GBA.

And this is the other game I was thinking of, Racing Gears Advance:






Videos

YES YES OMG YES! The first thing I thought of when I saw the thread title, even though it's GBA. My God to I love Racing Gears Advance. I worked hard to track down a copy, and paid almost 50 dollars Canadian for it, but I have never regretted it ever. I only wish I could play multiplayer.

bloodatonement

One of my friends bought me NFS Most Wanted. Damn, that game was crap.

maximumzero

Head to your local KMart(s) and see if you can find Ridge Racer there. It's $2. The best $2 I ever spent on a racing game.

Also, Feel the Magic is $3.

Rolfus

All I ever wanted from a DS racing game? Death Rally. Why hasn't this happened yet?

jimenex

Sorry to resurrect this thread but I was kinda looking for a racing game for the DS with single cart multiplayer. Anyone? AUGT2 looks fun but I can't find if it has that. I know Ridge Racer does but I'm a sucker for pursuit mode.

citizen059

I created a thread about this that got little response, but I'll throw this in now since it seems appropriate.

I'm looking forward to this:

Race Driver: Create & Race has been designed from the ground up for Nintendo DS and lets players thrash the most formidable sports cars through closely-fought races on the world's most prestigious circuits. and then lets players create their very own circuits with a full track construction kit.

Using the Nintendo DS stylus, the game's track editor lets players select and place race track elements, such as hairpin corners, long straights and chicanes, to design unique circuits. Once all the pieces are placed to perfection, players can take to their track and experience exactly what it's like in aggressive multiple car races.

In addition to the track editor, the game features 32 real-world circuits – from Silverstone and the Nûrburgring to Bathurst – and 25 officially licensed race cars, including the Koenig GT, the AMG Mercedes C Klasse DTM, and the Chevrolet Silverado Truck.

Making use of the Nintendo DS Wi-Fi connection capabilities, players can challenge others to races on the game's official tracks as well as the circuits of their creation. Race Driver: Create & Race also enables up to four players to go head-to-head in races gamesharing from only one cartridge. Further championships and cars can be unlocked from the World Tour Mode and then raced in realtime online and ad hoc multiplayer modes.

Gamespy has a gallery of screenshots here: http://media.ds.gamespy.com/media/901/901000/imgs_1.html

jimenex

citizen059 wrote: »

I created a thread about this that got little response, but I'll throw this in now since it seems appropriate.

I'm looking forward to this:

Race Driver: Create & Race has been designed from the ground up for Nintendo DS and lets players thrash the most formidable sports cars through closely-fought races on the world's most prestigious circuits. and then lets players create their very own circuits with a full track construction kit.

Using the Nintendo DS stylus, the game's track editor lets players select and place race track elements, such as hairpin corners, long straights and chicanes, to design unique circuits. Once all the pieces are placed to perfection, players can take to their track and experience exactly what it's like in aggressive multiple car races.

In addition to the track editor, the game features 32 real-world circuits – from Silverstone and the Nûrburgring to Bathurst – and 25 officially licensed race cars, including the Koenig GT, the AMG Mercedes C Klasse DTM, and the Chevrolet Silverado Truck.

Making use of the Nintendo DS Wi-Fi connection capabilities, players can challenge others to races on the game's official tracks as well as the circuits of their creation. Race Driver: Create & Race also enables up to four players to go head-to-head in races gamesharing from only one cartridge. Further championships and cars can be unlocked from the World Tour Mode and then raced in realtime online and ad hoc multiplayer modes.

Gamespy has a gallery of screenshots here: http://media.ds.gamespy.com/media/901/901000/imgs_1.html

Holy...needs more loops but still....

FyreWulff

ooo, TOCA DS.

citizen059

FyreWulff wrote: »

ooo, TOCA DS.

And if I read it right, it looks like it has single cart multiplayer and Wi-Fi? Is that what it means when it says "online" in addition to "ad hoc"?