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Ridge Racer DS Nintendo DS Nintendo  Nintendo seem to have a great love for porting console games over to their handhelds. Many SNES games found their way onto the Gameboy Advance and it looks like the tradition will continue for the DS, but this time it'll be N64 games that make the move. We first saw this with 'Super Mario 64 DS' and now we have 'Ridge Racer'. Originally a PlayStation darling, RR was eventually released on the N64 and proved to be one of the better driving games on the platform. The first thing one asks with any DS game is: how do they use the dual screens and, most importantly, the lower touch screen? All racing takes place on the top screen, and most of the HUD clutter like track map, lap times, and gears, have been moved to the lower screen. The rest of the lower display is taken up by an enormous, nearly full-screen representation of the vehicle's steering wheel. While this may initially appear somewhat pointless, it's actually quite handy for gauging how much rotation has being applied during a turn. Now, how about the touch screen? The control system can be set up using one of three modes: Easy, Hard and Expert. The Easy controls are attached to the d-pad and while this is certainly manageable, digital control feels like a return to the dark ages. I mean, what are we - savages? Hard mode uses the stylus on the touch screen to steer, but this system is incredibly non-intuitive and would require many, many hours and a bucketload of patience to master. I would be surprised if anyone opted to use this method. Lastly, Expert mode uses the DS's thumb strap for steering. In this mode, the touch screen acts as an analog stick emulator, similar to the way that it was used in 'Mario DS'. But the touch screen provides no tactile feedback, it feels very floaty, and it can be hard to recognize the points on the screen where your thumb meets the absolute right and left of the steering wheel's rotation. As with 'Mario DS' the thumb strap control is the best way to play, but it doesn't make up for the lack of an actual analog stick. At its core, 'Ridge Racer DS' remains true to the franchise by focusing on tremendous speed, tight action, and intense racing competition. Powersliding is and has always been the series' star attraction, giving players the ability to hit near 90-degree chicanes without the need to step on the brakes in the process. Those punters who own or are going to buy a Sony PSP should definitely favour the PSP version over this one. The graphics are vastly superior, it offers more tracks (RR DS only has three tracks at its core), and the PSP's analog stick makes the overall driving experience so much more enjoyable. If you're not planning on buying a PSP, I'd still think twice before buying this: there are far better games for the DS on which to spend your pennies.  |
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