Dodge Racing: Charger vs. Challenger (Nintendo DS) - Review by Andrew

Introduction

There are plenty of racing games on the DS and I'm sure they're as common as puzzlers and brain trainers with every developer eager to get a hit game in the genre. Sadly most racers are mediocre at best and it's only the likes of Firebrand Games, with their wonderful Race Driver and Trackmania games, who have managed to exploit the DS's strengths. Clearly that doesn't appear to stop anyone from having a go and Dodge Racing: Charger vs. Challenger is the latest offering from EM Studios but does it have enough horsepower to compete with the others?

Gameplay

Generally handheld racers follow pretty much identical layouts and we assumed Dodge Racer would be the same: it isn't. This is because you can't indulge in a single race from the start, a mode that every DS racer offers for that 'quick gaming fix'. Your only option to begin with is the Championship: a competition which takes place over 12 tracks all of which you'll race twice (backwards and forwards, day and night) which is based on a points system. Win enough races, amass enough points and the Championship is yours. It's only after you have raced a track, in the Championship, it becomes available to attempt as a single race with the object here to improve your lap time.

Winning races awards you with credits although you'll also have the opportunity to collect coins around the various tracks too. All this wealth can be traded for better cars and upgrades in order to improve your chances on the track. It's always obvious when to upgrade too as you'll be outperformed by every other driver. Tip: If you keep coming last, upgrade. Extended gameplay is available thanks to a couple of Bonus Tracks, which are unlocked via collecting jigsaw pieces as you race around the Championship Tracks. These aren't actually tracks though but rather Arenas where you and four other drivers play a kind of 'Capture the Flag' with the first nabbing themselves ten flags the winner.

Controls

Given that this is an arcade racer the control layout is very strange indeed. As you'd expect the 'A' button is used to Accelerate but the 'B' Button is not used to Brake but rather to Handbrake. Brake and Reverse is allocated to the 'X' button. Stranger still the Speed Boost is activated by pressing 'Y' meaning you'll be required to take your fingers off everything else to activate this. It all works after a while but you'll have to endure some frustrating races before you get the hang of it all. As with games like Ridge Racer, there's also extensive use of 'drifting' but this in no way adds to your Speed Boost, it's just the only way to get around some of the tighter corners.

Graphics

Dodge Racer is not a pretty sight at all and some of the tracks appear to have been lifted from a old Gameboy Advance title. The same is true of the cars and, for some time now we've seen DS racers, which are far more visually appealing that this. One aspect of the graphics engine, which the developers have spent some time on, is the lighting and your cars lighting will change colour as you move into tunnels or under a streetlight. It's just a shame a little more care and attention wasn't given to the rest of the game.

Sound

While a handful of generic music tracks play in the background these are generally drowned out by the sound of the cars engine. We're not saying here all the engine sounds are good and regardless of how powerful your vehicle has become it will still sound like an electric car which is badly in need of a service. That's right, not powerful, just irritating.

Dual screen

There's no need to even touch your stylus, this is a traditional arcade racer with traditional controls.

Final comments

Given that this is a budget racer, it's not as poor as you'd imagine and, although the visuals are nothing to write home about, it's still at least playable. What really lets Dodge Racer down is it's length and you'll complete just about everything the game has to offer in only a few hours. Of course there is a Multiplayer but this is not on-line and every player must have their own copy of the game. As we said, at the beginning of the review, the problem with DS racers is that the genre is saturated and with so many quality offerings out there Dodge Racer would have to be available at a bargain price for you to even consider it.

Pro: It's a Least Playable.
Con: Very Short, Not Much Challenge, Odd Control Layout.
Final score: 5.5

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