Game Review: Need For Speed Nitro

Game: Need for Speed: Nitro
Console: Nintendo Wii
Developer: EA
Release Date: 6th November 2009

A Nintendo exclusive Need for Speed game was always going to mean a couple of things. Firstly on the Wii, there was the inevitable inclusion of motion control, no HD graphics and probable cartoon style and kiddification of the series. Luckily the Gamecube or classic controller can be used with the game, negating the awful effects of having to use motion controls in a racing game, but the other issues still manage to hold the game back.

The main career mode features sets of races in 5 different locations, where players must perform well to earn stars for finishing 1st, lap times and style points. The more stars earned, the more things unlock, so they're needed past a certain point for progression. There are 3 cups in career mode, Bronze, Silver and Gold, and these refer to the 3 featured classes of car; A, B and C. Players start with class C cars, and as usual in Need For Speed, they're hardly race cars at all, with the Volkswagen Type 2 being one of the starting options.

Players can earn nitrous whilst racing by drifting, catching air or doing anything really; it's not difficult. At the start of races there's a minigame of sorts which allows players to perform a nitrous start by revving correctly. Driving whilst under the effects of a nitro boost is difficult if there are any turns at all, and the courses on the whole are pretty badly designed, some with hidden obstacles that are blocked from sight which players are almost certain to hit on their first time around a course.

The career mode is pretty short, and there's little incentive to progress through the cups or unlock all of the cars, despite there being a few nice ones available. The driving overall isn't great, but is bearable and possibly better than I thought it was going to be. I didn't attempt the game with motion control because it'd have inevitably made it worse. The police featured in the game are fairly aggressive and can at times unfairly hinder players.

Graphically the game is a little better than I had expected although obviously not in HD. The cars are fairly accurate cartoon-style representations of themselves and the motion blur effect can get pretty annoying after a while. The songs featured in the game range from 'down with the kids' style rap music to some whiny rock stuff, but mostly it's unenjoyable. The AI featured rubberband increasingly hard as the game continues, which is also a bit disappointing but perhaps expected from a Need For Speed title.

Overall it's definitely not the worst thing that could have been produced, but I wonder whether it really needed the Need For Speed series to be associated with it, as it lacks much of the street racing vibe given off by other titles. Due to the cynical cash in on the series name, people's expectations of the game were likely raised (or lowered, like mine) and this means that either way people won't get the true experience of the game as a singular entity.

Rating:
Grade: D