Reviews

Do you like the thrill of driving fast cars around closed courses? Well if you do, then give 3D Street Racing a go!

For those of you who enjoy thrashing your cars engine and making sure the revs stay at the top end of the speedometer you'll have your needs met in this thrilling high-octane extravaganza. You have a great choice of cars to pick from, although you have to earn your keys to the more exclusive speed machines.

The game breaks down into three key areas. The first section concentrates on you crossing the finish line without getting a scratch on your vehicle. The second stage is to win the race by beating the other drivers on the course. The third stage is a drag race where you must switch the transmission in the most efficient manner to make sure you get the quickest time.

Controls are a little tricky in this game, especially in the drag section, where you must use 3 to go up a gear and 6 to go down one. During the race mode your usual controls apply (4 and 6 are left and right, 2 and 8 are acceleration and braking. The left softkey pauses the game and the right softkey switches view (between in-car and 3rd person viewpoints).

The graphics are pretty good and well detailed. An example of this is given when the camera pans around the car at the beginning and end of the race - if you care to look at anything besides the car, you'll notice the backdrop moves in synchronisation.

As mentioned earlier, the controls are quite tricky to master - even for a more experienced racing driver. Not necessarily for the difference between the keys to use in the different races, but because the cars seem a little too fast for the turning to be effective. This means that you have two ways of finishing the game - 1, very slowly or 2, in a crumpled, flaming wreck as you fly backwards through the pearly gates! That being said, what happened to the reverse gear? I'm sure fast cars do come equipped with one - but not in this game!

All this said and done, 3D Street Racing is a pretty good game which has some of the best hand-held graphics I've come across. Yes there's some teething problems with the controls but what's that between petrol-heads? There's lots of fun to be had and plenty of things to keep you entertained. Whether it's a fuel injected drag race, a test of skill at cornering or a mixture of speed and control, there's something here for you to get fired up about. The only thing missing is the 3D furry dice hanging from the mirror and some thundering power ballad blowing the speakers!