Review

Developed by:4J Studios Published by:Vir2L Studios Genre(s):
  • Racing
  • Platform:
  • Handhelds
  • Cost:$29.99 ESRB Rating:EVERYONE Players:1 (2-4 Online/Multi-cart) Release date:July 1, 2008 Reviewed on:DS
    5

    Ducati Moto

    When I heard about Ducati Moto, a motorcycle racing title from Vir2l Studios coming to the DS, I was a little afraid. When it comes to racing games, the Nintendo DS isn’t the best system for playing them. If the title doesn’t feature red turtle shells, then it’s probably not going to be very fun. Unfortunately, my fears were realized moments after I put Ducati Moto into my DS.

    To be fair, Ducati Moto isn’t the worst racing game on the DS. The bikes control well enough, the graphics are decent, and the sound quality isn’t horrible (like other DS racers). For fans of the sport, there is even enough content to keep them playing for a long time. My first gripe came from the fact that they’re not enough options available at the start of the game. With most racing games, there are two main modes; a career mode and a multiplayer mode. At the start of a career you are given a limited car selection, which grows as you move forward. The multiplayer mode usually gives a larger car selection that also grows over time. This isn’t the case for Ducati Moto. At the start of the game, you are given only one bike, despite the mode of play. As if the racing options were not already limited enough, there is only one racing track available. The lack of variety hurts the multiplayer mode as well, since you and your friends must all use the same bike. If it weren’t for the fact that you can pick different riders, everyone would look like clones.

    The only way to get more options is to go through the career mode. By winning races, you earn cash, which can be used to purchase (and upgrade) your bikes. Winning races also unlock more racing tracks. There isn’t anything out of the norm here…or so I thought. Ducati Moto, much to my dismay, uses a point system. By gaining points during my races, I am able to race in more locations and each location has it’s own tracks. What bothers me is the fact that it is impossible to gain enough points during your first run on any given set of tracks to progress to a new location. What I mean is that even though I finished first on every track in Loch Lomond, Scotland, I wasn’t able to move to the next city. This means I have to re-race on the same tracks before moving forward! No racing game in the world is fun enough to want to repeat the same track 1000 times just to unlock the next.

    To try and make this seem like less of a burden, you are given the option of playing events to gain points. The events are: Time Attack, Race Line, and Eliminator. Time Attack is were you complete three laps on a given track trying to beat a certain time. Eliminator is basically the same as normal races except the last person to cross the finish on each lap is eliminated. The Race Line event has the player complete three laps while trying to collect stars.  Unfortunately, the events don’t help much as you are still playing on the same tracks as before. I will never understand the need to re-play tracks/levels before moving on with your career/campaign. This is a poor and unrewarding attempt to extend the length of a game (yes I am looking at you Mario 64/Sunshine/Galaxy). Think about it, how many gamers would have enjoyed Halo if they had to play the first level four times before advancing the story?

    I feel that Ducati Moto is really only for gamers who can’t get enough of racing motorcycles. They are the ones that could overlook its shortcomings. Other gamers would grow tired of the career mode way before they unlock enough content to make Ducati Moto worth playing. The offline/online multiplayer modes don’t help things that much. The online multiplayer mode wasn’t much fun mainly due to the lack of racers online. As it stands, Ducati Moto is an average racer with a bad career mode, and overall not something I would recommend for racing fans.

    Gameplay:

    6

    The bikes handle as they should. That’s about it.

    Graphics:

    7

    Passable at best.

    Sound:

    7

    Same as the graphics.

    What's New:

    1

    Nothing really.

    Replay Value:

    4

    I would say it depends on whether you like the sport, then again I am not so sure that would help.

    Final Score:

    5

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