Asphalt 3D |Review

So I have had about a week with the Nintendo 3DS and a handful of the release titles to help accelerate the crossing of my eyes and melting of my brain. I figure that it is about to start working on a few reviews and help any of you on the fence regarding Asphalt 3D. When I went into reviewing this title, I immediately thought about the racing titles for the DS and how there really weren't any worth remembering. Did Asphalt 3D even stand a chance of getting a good review? Well we will get to that soon, but before that, a little background of the Ubisoft released 3D racer. Developed by the mobile mogul Gameloft is a game that holds 42 licensed cars and 17 locations making for a lot of goal based events.

Now back to that first question about whether this game had a chance...you betcha. The reason being is that the this handheld isn't just a DS with 3D, this is like the difference between the Game Boy Advance and the DS. Asphalt 3D is definitely one of the games you can show off to your friends still on the fence and waiting for a sucke...I mean friend to get one first to make sure it isn't the next DSi. Being a fan of Forza, Gran Turismo, and just about any other racing game, licensed cars are a huge plus in my book, as it isn't much fun to crash a car that resembles like a Lamborghini. This is not a racing sim though, it is more like Need for Speed and San Francisco Rush had a long night in Cabo during Spring Break. Here is the part you are all waiting for, the 3D, I liked it mainly because it was subtle and not as is your face as Street Fighter 4, making it easier to play longer without feeling discomfort while enjoying the depth and layers the I hadn't noticed before.

What were some things that I felt didn't bode well for the experience? I would start with the load times. At times, mostly when going starting the game and before races, I felt I was thinking why does it take so much longer to load than it did on the DS. Next, and this is a personal issue, but is it necessary to have in game advertising on a small screen you need to hold inches from your face to be seen? I crashed multiple times trying to see the ad on the billboard for wheels, not noticing the track as I squint trying to decipher what the brand is. Lastly, it felt a bit like I was playing an on rails game where the tracks feel confined and walls do not slow you down much at times.

Though, not without quarks, it was a solid racer chock full of leveling up, modifying, painting, and racing that stays fun event after event. Though there isn't much competition right now for the top 3DS racer, it did have stiff competition with the age old franchise, Ridge Racer, and I feel that for gameplay, Asphalt had me playing longer, where as with Ridge Racer, I felt was more the showoff to friends game, that didn't hold my interest as long. It does boast the Street Pass feature and local multiplayer, but was unable to try either feature but looking forward to exchanges ghosts with strangers.