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Take the full DiRT 2 game on the PC, PS3 and X360 and hit it with Szalinski's miniaturization gun and you've got DiRT 2 on DS. Firebrand Games - who also made a fantastic port of Trackmania for the DS - has managed to repackage most of the fun and features found in the full version of the title into a take it anywhere you go portable rendition that does the original full versions justice. From the varied terrain and tracks to the licensed vehicles and soundtrack, it's in there. New vehicles are purchased with money earned from wins. New tracks are opened by winning races. New songs are...well, they all come standard. The soundtrack is intact and sounds pretty good on the DS such that I've left it on a few times just to hear certain tracks while writing this review. The visual quality is also somewhat surprising. The polygon count on most vehicle models will raise an eyebrow and the textures ensure everything has a distinct enough look to easily identify each vehicle and track. DiRT 2's career mode has found the perfect balance of depth while still offering quick races and gaps between the action that works well with the pick up and play portable nature of the DS. Gamers progress through a series of global locations offering various race scenarios such as point to point, ramp, gate crasher, raid, off road, rally and more. The standard amateur, rookie and pro difficulty levels are on offer for most courses. Each giving a increased monetary winning making it more desirable to conquer the tougher races to get the better rides and upgrades as fast as possible. Totally missing from the Wii iteration but found here are the above mentioned vehicle upgrades (engine, steering, tires and chassis) and the option between manual and automatic transmission. Granted using the manual transmission increases the difficulty level substantially when driving some of the curvier courses. Another missing aspect from the Wii title that made the transition to the DS is vehicle system damage and integrity loss. The gears, steering, suspension, engine and wheels can take a pounding leaving your vehicle in as poor shape as the piece of junk I drive in the parking lot. Multiplayer options come in the form of single card and multi-card wireless 2-4 player racing and track sharing (multi-card only - single card multiplayer is limited to a 3 race championship). And finally the big draw for the DS iteration of DiRT 2 is the fabulous track designer. Firebrand games have utilized this track designer in several of their DS titles now and DiRT 2 is no exception. The track editor uses a budget system with each piece costing a certain allotted budget for the track. Pieces are earned via the career mode. Designers can manage the editing from practically any perspective in both 2D and 3D and test drive their track at any point. You select the vehicles, the track terrain, weather conditions and then punish yourself for making such a deviously difficult track - you know you will. DiRT 2 for DS does justice to the title and provides portable racing on the go that is compelling enough to keep at it once you you're...uh, no longer on the go. |
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