Take one part rally racer, one part Need for Speed, and one part arcade sim racer and you have the recipe for Asphalt Urban GT. Gameloft's first title for the Nintendo DS takes several elements found in the racing sub-genres and attempts to blend them together. At times the result is smooth and fluid, while at other times it tends to fall short of the mark.

Features:

• Wireless support for up to 4 players
  
• Fully customizeable cars from many popular makes and models
  
• Several game modes, including a full career mode (Evolution)
  
• Tracks inspired from major cities worldwide
  
• Fully rendered 3D graphics
  
• One internal save slot
  
• First racer available for the Nintnedo DS
  
• Available at launch
  

Presentation
Asphalt Urban GT is a pretty straight forward racer that doesn't attempt to do more than it should. Menus are simple and easy to navigate, and the in-game information is presented nicely as well. The top screen is where the action of the game takes place, while on the bottom screen a map of the course is displayed. It's nice having an entire screen for the map so that you can easily make out individual cars and even details of the track as you race. The use of the touch screen is somewhat disappointing due to the size of the buttons in the menus. Most often the buttons on the screen are far too small to use your finger, and it's inconvenient to reach for the stylus each time you are confronted with a menu to navigate. Thankfully this issue can be bypassed by using the directional pad to select options. The presentation seems a little rushed, but Asphalt Urban GT is in by no means poorly presented.


Great graphical engine

Gameplay
Asphalt Urban GT does several things well, and several things not so well, but let's focus on the positive first. Asphalt Urban GT offers a great sense of speed with a solid framerate. The controls are responsive, and each car behaves pretty much as it should. For example, if you are driving a Hummer, you're going to be pretty slow off the line and have a hard time taking turns at a higher speeds. On the other hand, if you are driving a Lamborghini, you're likely to experience the near opposite.

Each car can be customized to your liking to affect its performance, including engine swaps, suspension, turbo kits, exhaust systems, transmission, brakes, tires, weight, paint, and body style. All of these tweaks make changes in the way the car you are driving handles and can let the player pin down exactly how they want their car to handle.


Sunset

The controls are pretty simple, you have one button for gas, one for brake, one for nitros, and finally a few camera controls. Hitting your brake going into corners will allow you to powerslide and keep your speed up as you make the turn. Learning to powerslide effectively is essential to winning races, even early on. The controls are responsive and the cars aren't plagued with floaty or slippery controls. In fact, the way the cars handle is really the strongest point of the game.

Several game modes are available right from the beginning. The arcade mode has several different ways to play including instant play, road challenge, free race, time attack, and my favorite, cop chase. These modes are great for when you just have a few moments to spare. The real meat and potatoes of the game however lies in the Evolution mode (career mode). In Evolution mode you will play through several different race classes, beginning with Colossus (cars like the Hummer), and work your way up to more advanced cars. The career mode isn't especially long, but it is longer than most handheld racers have to offer. You earn cars and money for winning races, and that money in turn can be cashed in to upgrade your cars.