GameTopius - The Geeks Paradise.

In the time since the release of BioShock in the Summer of 2007, there have been many claims that the focus of the medium had begun to shift away from play and towards narrative depth. At the very least, the some of the highest rated games over the last two years have been universally praised for their cinematic pacing, the texture of their stories, and the realization of their characters. What place does a game like TrackMania DS have in this world?


Developed by Firebrand Games and published by Atlus here in the states, TrackMania DS manages to fulfill all of its PC cousins' promises, albeit on a smaller scale (appropriate since this marks the series' first hand held release.) The game is broken down into three core modes: Race, Platform, and Puzzle. Race is a series of 90 beat-the-clock challenges. Platform's levels have no time limit, but are filled with pitfalls and other obstacles that can force you to restart from the level's last checkpoint, with each checkpoint counting against you. Puzzle makes you use the level editor to build a course that connects a preset start point, end point, and any checkpoints between the two, then asks you to race the course to completion in a timed event.

Within each of these three modes is further subdivision between three styles of course/vehicle. The Stadium courses feature Forumula 1 style cars with high traction and higher speeds, perfect for these stunt loaded tracks. The Rally racing courses are primed for drifting turns, short jumps and the Rally car is fit to handle the challenge with its quick acceleration and super light weight. Finally, the Desert environment features hairpin turns, hard to make jumps, and easy to fall off of elevated tracks.

The three styles of course combine with three styles of play to present a variety of different "feeling" races. Even within a given type of style, say Stadium Race mode, each difficulty level seems set on teaching you a new tactic to better your times. The Easy tracks require you to keep high speed by minimizing excessive movement, while the Hard tracks teach the player that going fast isn't always the best option. This does keep the play fresh, which is welcome.

The game is arcade-y, despite its simulation style level names. You'll never forget that this is a game, and it never wants you to. It values memorization and great twitch controls, and it is unforgiving as it comes. If you make a mistake early on, and are going for the "gold" medal on a given course, you might as well start over. The game is traditional in the way that reminds us that all games are similar:

so much of the objective is to avoid obstacles in an attempt to move forward, comparisons with traditional shooters can be made, and with one mode even being called "Platform" the statement barely needs to be made.

And that's the argument that TrackMania DS makes. What place does a game like that have in this world? A pretty traditional one, safe in its place so long as we don't forget the thing that made us love games to begin with. Even if we've become obsessed with our favorite hobby as an art form, there is something in us that loves playing and perfecting that play. TrackMania DS does its best to bring us back to games for that reason.

And that's where Firebrand Games and Atlus would like me to end the review. And honestly, I'd like to be able to. TM:DS is a charming game that I had a blast playing, but it isn't without serious issues, some of which center around that very focus on traditional game design.

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