Race Driver: Create & Race (DS)

citizen059

So while looking for info on DiRT, I came across this. As a fan of the Race Driver series, and a DS owner...I've been envious of the PSP and its Race Driver game for a while. But no more! The prospect of Race Driver on the DS excites me. :P

April 18 2007
It’s the complete race circuit construction kit as Codemasters brings Race Driver: Create & Race exclusively to Nintendo DS™


The experience of racing the world’s most powerful cars with a twist... As many twists and turns as you want.


Enabling race drivers to create their own championship circuits, Codemasters today announces Race Driver: Create & Race, an original title in the exhilarating motorsport series, coming exclusively to Nintendo DS this summer.

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 Nϋrburgring 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.

Prepare to get creative with chicanes and more as Race Driver: Create & Race charges out of the pits exclusively for the Nintendo DS this summer. Check out what’s under the hood at www.codemasters.com/createandrace.

New Info

A Gamespot interview featuring Jamie Firth, lead producer for the game. He covers the track creation mode, the physics & handling, the fact that it's built specifically for the DS and isn't just a port of an existing game, and more. Also included is a good bit of video of the game running on a DS Lite.

BTP

Now THIS shows some promise to it! I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for this one.

I just wish the title of the game was F-Zero.

citizen059

Not to continue the shilling, but yeah...it looks promising, especially now that I've found these two "hands-on" preview articles:

http://www.pro-g.co.uk/ds/race_driver_create_race/preview-439.html

"Rather than possessing the photocopied feel that many direct ports to DS suffer from, Race Driver has a sharpness and quality that shows how much better original productions look on Nintendo's handheld."

"This is no arcade romp with Hollywood handling or arcade skids that you can ride round corners like a wave, but it certainly seems to focus on the fun side of throwing a steel box around a concrete loop."

"Unlike the main game, the system for building your own strips of tarmac uses the stylus, either giving you the chance to draw the bends and straights directly, or click together a Scalextric style set of pieces. You can add in all sorts of scenery elements, from grandstands to vegetation, and if it really is as good as Codemasters says, it will at least add longevity to the title if nothing else."

"The game takes full advantage of both cartridge sharing and the DS's wi-fi internet connectivity, allowing for multiplayer races both on the 32 tracks included and on the tracks you can create, with online world leaderboards to encourage more dedicated competition."

http://www.gamespot.com/ds/driving/racedrivercreaterace/story.html?sid=6169335

"Although Race Driver: Create & Race is still some months away from release, it's impressive to see the game running on the DS with both good-quality graphics and a very smooth frame rate. While it's true that the amount of trackside detail has been scaled back quite dramatically, the cars themselves boast recognisable livery details and feel like they're really sticking to the road."

"You control the car with the face buttons and the D pad; no touch-screen controls have been implemented into the racing elements of the game."

"Four bespoke tracks can be saved on the DS cartridge, and they will be playable with up to four people all over the world via the online infrastructure mode or locally via ad hoc multiplayer. While the game is given a variety of names across the globe because of licensing issues, such as DTM Race Driver: Create & Race in Germany and V8 Supercars 3: Create & Race in Australasia, the good news is that all versions will be compatible online."

Very promising indeed.

I wish I could express how excited I am.

More screens from Pro-G:

smallmouth

This looks really cool. Being able to race on other people's created tracks over WiFi is awesome. And real life tracks too!

Unfortunately I'm not a huge fan of Codemasters, save the Colin Mcrae games.

citizen059

Sorry to cast a rez on the thread, but I updated the OP with new information.

I'm really getting my hopes up on this one...looks like it could finally be a solid racer for the DS that doesn't contain either Mario or Karts. Not that there's anything wrong with either of those, or their combination.