Graphics

I remember just after the Nintendo DS was released I saw a video for a need for speed game I remember it looked almost like a first generation PS1 game with big ugly textures and polygon models that resembles something from Sega’s ill-fated 32x. Ever since then I regarded the DS as a platform that should only remain 2D with the exception of first part titles such as Mario Kart and Super Mario 64 DS that could utilise the machine properly in 3D. It’s been quite a few years since that incident and as expected the graphical quality has improved immensely.

The game graphically almost looks like a late era Nintendo 64 game with some smooth car models and some detailed scenery, though some of the textures look a little pixelated but they’re never on screen long enough to really notice so it’s forgiven and considering the sheer amount of information they crammed onto the DS card I’m surprised they got the levels of detail they did.

And it was going so well, there are problems, some intentional, some not. The original GRID featured real time damage of the car you were driving, this game does not instead when you crash a few polygons fly off to the side giving the impression you’ve caused damage but the car model stays the same. In the track creator mode you can preview your track with a camera giving you a guided tour, on quite a few occasions there were clipping errors where the camera would raise slower than the track and pass right through it showing a green section below. It’s not too bad but I would have thought something like this would have been sorted out in the testing phase. The final problem I encountered was just after a race. Like every race or challenge you do you get a replay with a dynamic camera to show you all the best bits of your race, well to put it simply on the replay my car got stuck on a barricade. In the actual race I came first but in the replay my car inexplicably became glued to a barricade, the front wheels still rotated and turned but nothing, even the camera got stuck on that one view. I’m a little disappointed these problems weren’t sorted in the testing phase of the game but they do not affect game play at all.

Sound

The music is very generic and forgetful but it does the job it was intended for. I did find the tracks that play in the menus and in the track creator became very annoying especially when you’re trying to concentrate on the task at hand and having it loop over and over and over again forced me on several occasions to turn the volume off. To say I’m disappointed by the music is an understatement as it all feels to me like an after thought, the graphics and gameplay are so tight I guess I just expected the same from the soundtrack, I was wrong.

The sound effects on the other hand are pretty good; the cars make the correct noises when they change gears or when they collide. I did especially like the crunch sound whenever you crash to give you the impression you hay have just caused some severe damage to your car, nice touch, oh and the tyres screech when you drift. Sound effects within the ingame menus are simple and not over stated with simple chimes whenever you select whatever you want to do.

Portability

Most portable reviews I read don’t actually take into account the portability of the game. Games such as the Final Fantasy 3 and Resident Evil DS are not very portable as they require you to use save points, not the most efficient way to save the game if your about to get off the bus. GRID DS on the other hand does it surprisingly well, I took the game on a 10 minute train ride to see how it copes. Within the 10 minutes I managed to complete two races and a challenge and when I was done I simply turned the DS off. The fact the game saves after every race a godsend to anyone looking for a game they can quickly turn off and pop back into their pocket. The races themselves I hadn’t noticed before are rather quick time wise which means you can get a few done in a very small amount of time. I would not suggest the track editor though. On my way back I only managed to complete half the track as the editor requires a steady hand with use of the stylus and the trains aren’t the smoothest form of public transport, apart from that the game is very portable friendly.

Longevity

The game is rather massive in terms of content. In single player mode most tracks have several challenges and there is always the drive to collect all the customisation packs to customise your cars. The true length of this game and I have said this before lies in the track editor as it allows you to make tracks you feel are best suited to your own driving style be it drifting or drag racing and in all honesty I wouldn’t mind seeing other racing titles incorporate this feature in the future as on home consoles it opens the option of DLC for new track parts and scenery.

Overall if you can look past the bugs and forgettable music you have a solid racing game with very good graphics for the DS and a very addictive track editor, the portability makes it perfect to play on the way to work and the sheer amount of challenges will keep you coming back for more long after you popped it into your DS.