Asphalt Urban GT 2 (Nintendo DS) - Review by Andrew

Introduction

Way back when the DS was first announced Ubi Soft and Gameloft were exciting gamers with screens of their visually impressive racer Asphalt Urban. The game was released to a mixed reaction because while the visuals stood up the gameplay was somewhat flawed. Mobile phone users will be well aware that the franchise is now on its fourth outing but this is only the second on the DS. You'd imagine that this would be a great opportunity to rectify all the problems that stopped the first outing from being an instant classic, but has it?

Gameplay

One of Asphalt Urban 2's strengths is the sheer volume of licensed vehicles available in this version, all of which are fairly impressive representations of their 'real' life counterparts. They can all be modified (should you have enough funds) but when you first start the game you'll only have a handful of cars to select from. The best way to unlock both tracks and vehicles (including bikes and trucks) is to enter the Evolution Mode, which pits you against other racers in order to win cash. The tracks themselves are based all around the world using everywhere from San Francisco and New York to London and Paris with each course becoming progressively more difficult. You must collect cash and nitros with more points being awarded by performing 'near misses' or more daring maneuvers. However if you are a little too reckless, then the police will appear from nowhere. One odd thing though is that regardless of where in the world you are racing, the police cars always appear to be American. Very strange. Stranger still is the rival racers' AI. Not only are they relatively easy to beat but they'll also attempt to force you off the road should you draw alongside them. Unlike your infractions, this doesn't alert the law, which would be unfair except that only a few boosts of your nitro speeds you away from the cops in no time at all.

If you don't want to be in for the 'long haul' then you can select one of the more arcade-based modes, which allow you to indulge in a single race in any car, anywhere in the world providing you have already unlocked them. There's also a Time Attack, challenging you to beat your best lap time and the opportunity to play as both cops and robber in a variety of chase games. There's also the self explanatory Elimination where you must avoid being in the last position at the end of each lap. Finally there's even a Multiplayer option although you will require multiple copies of the game in order to fully enjoy this feature.

Controls

As with the first outing, the controls are firmly on the arcade side of things with the d-pad and buttons controlling the steering, acceleration, braking and nitros just as you'd expect. The drifting is just as easy as it was and essential if you wish to actually become competent at the game.

Graphics

Visually the game is just as impressive as the original and the cars are nicely modeled and detailed with the DS keeping up an impressive framerate regardless of how much traffic is on the roads. The same is true of the various cities which, while condensed, are pretty good representations of the actual locations with enough variety in the textures to be convincing. One big enhancement is a kind of distance fogging which allows the background to slowly fade in rather than popping up out of nowhere.

Sound

Outside of Moby's 'Lift Me Up', which dominates the title screen, the rest of the soundtrack is instantly forgettable with a whole collection of generic pop accompanying the various tracks. The sound effects fare much better although the various cars sound better than the bikes, which come off a little tinny regardless of their power.

Dual screen

Other than 'Touch Screen to Start' there not a great deal for you to do with your trusty stylus so it's probably better to keep it safe in the back of your DS.

Final comments

If you did enjoy the first outing then there's a good chance that the same will be true of part 2 as it's simply more of the same with some minor improvements. There are more cars, more tracks and more racing modes and the inclusion of the Pussycat Dolls will no doubt please some male gamers. What I would say is that this is not a simulation, so if you are interested in realistic handling etc then this is definitely not for you. Everyone else, bag yourself a copy now as it's probably still one of the best arcade racers on the DS unless, of course, you still can't drag yourself away from Mario Kart.

Pro: Fun, Arcade Racer, Nice Graphics, and Loads of Unlockables.
Con: AI Cars Too Easy to Beat.
Final score: 6.1

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