Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...
To begin, The cars and collision physics are admittedly ugly, but the rest of the visuals are pretty good for the most part. There are a number of nice effects you'll notice, such as tail light blurring and tire skid marks that help achieve a nice sense of fast paced racing, but I would've liked to at least see some sparks or other damage indicators from scraping against track walls or opposing racers. Unfortunately, the game doesn't feel very real when you crash into a wall, as the only consequence for doing so is a ricochet redirection of your vehicle and a slight drop in speed. As for the sense of speed itself, it's not as bad as Gamespot says, since everything looks and runs smooth and keeps the action moving. It does feel a lot slower when played in third person however, and it seems more difficult to control since the camera isn't as active in following the car. The game does set you in first person by default, so its obvious the developers intentionally made it so it would be most enjoyable in that mode and should be played accordingly. As a matter of fact, playing in 1st person view also helps hide some of the more noticeable glitches with collision detection, and the look and feel produces the sensation of actually being inside the vehicle. Your **** view" will show off some impressive physics not available in third person, like suspension recoil when hitting a bump in the road or weight shifting when taking a sharp turn. The bottom screen is houses the steering wheel 100% of the time, whether or not you choose to use the touch screen controls or outside view. It's a great addition if you ask me, since it moves as you do and helps secure the illusion of driving a virtual car.
The sound department is well in tune and is definately the best aspect of the game. Even the announcer's voice is crystal clear, though he may get a little annoying at times. Engine sounds are believable though all the cars pretty much sound the same, which isn't that big of a problem. It is nice to see that your car produces varying echo effects depending on where you drive, which is something I personally think would've benefitted MarioKart DS's audio. You do have the option of selecting your music at the start of every race, and there are a number of catchy tunes to choose from if you don't mind upbeat techno. Overall, I'm glad to see they did put a good amount of effort into the game's audio since there is little to really complain about here.
Value wise, the game has plenty to offer in single-player races and unlockables. Most of the tracks in the game are from the same three locales, just mapped out with alternate routes to make it feel like there are more "levels". Pretty clever to say the least, since the tracks are varied enough to feel like different courses, even though you'll run through areas you are familiar with often enough. Unlocking extra cars is fun if you can manage to beat out your opponents in their courses, but sometimes the cars you win don't feel worth all the effort. The game doesn't take 2nd place for an answer, so you'll undoubtedly find yourself trying and trying again to win the gold, which adds a bit to the replay value. Thankfully, the developers made a nice looking replay system when you do win, and sometimes it takes so much strain to win that it feels good to reward yourself with a good pat on the back and nice nice break to watch all your hard work in motion. And, unlike AUGT, you get to see ALL racers on the road during replays, not just your own. If there was one thing I hated about Asphault, it will the skimpiness with its presentation. This is where Ridge Racer attains the majority superiority.
The game doesn't bother being stingy either when it comes to game-share multiplayer. Single card play offers quite a heft of options compared to most two player games of the sort, seeing as you aren't restricted to a single car and you can race in virtually every track featured, so long as player one has them unlocked. All players can even choose the color of their cars if they wish. Though there are some compromises for such extra options, such as the lack of music on guest DS systems, but its a necessary evil to allot the player more freedom of choice. Personally, it ain't that big of a problem, since you'll most likely be in close proximity of your opponents and they will be able to hear the music from the host DS. The one downfall to single card play is that if you wish to select a different track to race in, you'll all have to start over and begin the game share option all over again from the DS menu. I guess it's a small price to pay for so many single-card multiplayer options. If you're fortunate enough to find another copy of the game, you get all features and cars, but of course that much is expected.
I say it's a good racing game for DS that shouldn't be missed. If you can play this game in first person like intended, and look past the awkward collision physics, the game can be quite a fun experience in the long run. If you're lucky like me and find this game for cheap, by all means go for it. This game seems to have a bad rep, but I promise you, it's not a bad experience. In fact, I might point out that even though Asphault Urban GT scored almost a whole point higher here at Gamespot, the rest of the industry gives the edge to Ridge Racer. You can look at the "They Say" scores for both games to see for yourself.
I can't quite explain why I liked this game so much. I'm not sure if it was the great deal I got for it or the fact that I've never played RR64 before, but the fact is it's underrated and doesn't deserve all the smack talk it gets. You can't really bash this game until you play it yourself, so I did exactly that. Turns out, it was one of the most surprising DS games with a "fair" score I've ever ran across. Whodda thunk such games could be enjoyable? Like I said before, I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder...