Asphalt: Urban GT

Players who enjoy earning vehicles and the funds necessary to pimp them out should especially enjoy it. It will take you quite some time to complete everything, and it really does feel like a full-fledged console racer that you can take with you on the road.

While it doesn’t use the system’s power to the fullest (no touchscreen usefulness or multiplayer modes without multiple titles), it’s a decent enough game that’s worth your time and money if you’re into the racing genre on the go.

It wouldn’t have the same pizzazz on Nintendo GameCube unless the graphics and physics were improved tenfold.

The gameplay is fast and accessible, and there's enough variety in both the single- and multiplayer modes that you could spend a lot of time with the game.

With a high sense of speed, and a wide variety of gameplay, for the first time racing feels appropriate for the handheld scene. Aside from some frustrating traffic and driving issues, the graphics, controls, style and use of touch screen really brings out the best in this oft-mediocre driving series.

A gorgeous game by any standards. [Jan 2005, p.85]

Asphalt Urban GT doesn't participate in much of the innovation that makes the DS special, but oddly enough, it's still a fun racer that offers some very cool multiplayer features.

The gameplay is a bit primitive but still fun and challenging. My only regret is that the dual screen wasn’t used more prominently in the game. As it is, graphics not withstanding, this game could have been released for the GBA.

Unfortunately, it lacks the solid arcade racing feel of a game like Burnout, or Ridge Racer, or Gran Turismo itself.

One thing that the other launch titles have shown is that navigating the menus in DS games can be very simple and straightforward. Here though the whole system is clunky, with some icons placed on the touch screen being so small you need to use the stylus.

The game does look good, though. And control is tight. Which means that while it may not be inspiring, it's perfectly playable -- arguably the best handheld racing game ever made.

Not a bad game, but it seems very rushed. It also feels like the N-gage game, which downright sucked. But the framerate seems much faster, and the fact that the map is at the bottom is cool.

The nine racing locations, which include Las Vegas and Paris, are dramatically lit and loaded with intricate textures, making the surroundings so busy at times that it can be difficult to see the track. [Feb 2005, p.114]

A quality title that suffers from the fact that it had to be a little rushed. However, the fast game play and addictive career mode kept us coming back.

Your friends won’t like it because it’s too hard, and you might get bored because once you master the funky physics it becomes pretty repetitive.

Slow-paced and lackluster.

Asphalt's downfall is its off-balance racing. The addition of turbo boosts just doesn't make sense in this particular race.

On a basic level, however, the game's still fun - simple, yes, but immediately engaging no matter what kind of gamer you are. [Feb 2005, p.114]

For every few strides Asphalt: Urban GT takes, it seems to stumble once. In the end, it's serviceable, very good-looking, but by no means an outstanding portable racer.

The ability of the handheld to throw around smooth graphics like these can only bode well for a fully-miniaturised 3D Mario Kart - another title we're truly gagging to play.

Does nothing extraordinarily special, nor is the DS hardware exploited beyond a map. [Feb 2005, p.110]

It’s not exceptional on any level, but the solid, easy playability and multitude of arcade and career game modes make it a lengthy driving experience.

Multiplayer is a great aspect of the game. The only great aspect of the game.

This is a great looking racing game that really pushes these early capabilities of the DS and does it while running at 60 frames per second. The problem is that the gameplay is just uninspired.

The graphics are so-so, the gameplay is repetitive and often dated, the difficultly level is uneven, the controls are unoriginal and the sound is pretty dull. Yet despite all this, I found myself playing Asphalt a lot.

Gameloft managed to squeeze in a great graphic engine in the short amount of time it had with the hardware, but it clearly just couldn't fit a well-balanced racing game within that engine.

It simply seems rushed in certain areas and the whole game is a little on the short side.

It also reeks of sloppy development, making it a decent title for the brain dead, but an absolute bore fest for those looking for even the cheapest of thrills.

Any sort of challenge or replayability would have turned Asphalt Urban GT into an absolute godsend for Nintendo and their new console. As it stands, the gameplay is hollow and lifeless, and bears little resemblance to an essential title.

Gets the job done, but just barely. [Spring 2005, p.62]

I would love to drive an indestructible car that could never, ever flip in my ordinary, everyday life, but when we play games, we like to break things. After playing some Asphalt Urban GT, you’ll just want to break your Nintendo DS.

If you need the realistic tracks and real vehicles, Asphalt: Urban GT will deliver. Otherwise, you'll probably want to get your DS racing kicks elsewhere.

Quite rough around the edges which suggests that it was rushed out to meet the DS launch date. Very disappointed.

The fancy-pants replay is a nice enough function…except for the fact that all the other cars on the course mysteriously vanish into thin air during playback. Um, didn't anyone notice this?

It bears all the hallmarks of a game rushed to meet a deadline and its refusal to use the touch screen is the biggest faux pas a launch game can commit on the DS. [Jan 2005, p.121]

It's no fun to drive, and in fact driving itself is something of a challenge. On top of that, having begun life on other formats (including N-Gage), it makes only a token gesture to adapt to the DS's featureset, allowing you to navigate menus but do nothing else with the stylus, allowing wireless multiplay but demanding multiple copies of the game, and using the bottom screen for little more than a topographical overview of the course with markers for each car.