Race Driver: Create and Race Review

The name of the game could not be much more generic. Race Driver: Create and Race is a spinoff of the TOCA series. I will forgive you if you have never heard of it, although you should try it on the consoles. As the name implies, you can both create tracks and race on them. You will have to unlock turns and scenery, but eventually you can have a course as professional looking as the ones the developers made.

I am a big fan of racing games. From Burnout and Need for Speed, to Sega Rally and Colin McRae, to Mario Kart and F-Zero, racing is one of my favorite genres. One of my least favorite types of racing games though is the simulator. While games such as Gran Turismo may look beautiful, their realism takes the enjoyment out of playing something that I think should be more fun than authentic. Thankfully Codemasters managed to be both fun and realistic with Race Driver on DS.

What I find to be more impressive is what they managed to pack into this cartridge. You have a ton of different vehicles with different classes, all of which have their own speeds and handling. There are plenty of game modes and challenges, all part of the single-player experience and must be completed in order to continue along and unlock new things in the game. Just to name a few, you will have your average race around a course, one has you speed down a straight-way really fast only to brake into a designated area, and a cone dodging course. Overall, I am very pleased with the level of variety.

As far as multi-player goes, you can connect with friends using Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection or local wireless play (including download play). Online you can play against random strangers, friends or rivals. There are leaderboards and you can even upload your tracks to play against someone with online. You can play with between 2 and 4 players online. I would go so far as to say that this is the best Nintendo DS online game since Mario Kart DS.

As far as graphics go, these are some of the best I have seen on Nintendo DS. Do not get me wrong, it still looks like a late Nintendo 64 era game, but it is better than most racing games on the system, outside of maybe Mario Kart DS, which has cartoon graphics. You could say that the undertaking here was almost on level with what we would expect from a console game as opposed to a handheld.

Fans of racing games finally have a game other than Mario Kart DS to play on the Nintendo DS. The online play will keep you coming back, yet the single-player experience is just as solid and far deeper. Finally, a racing game with a workable track editor. The fact that you can use them online is even more impressive. The graphics far exceed what you would expect from the Nintendo DS. Race Driver: Create and Race beat my expectations considerably.