Asphalt Urban GT

by Ubisoft

Product Features

• 20 different, licensed cars
• Nine tracks inspired by real-world locations
• Wireless connectivity for up to five racers

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0006A9SLQ
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches ; 3.2 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: March 20, 2006
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,555 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #28 in Video Games > Nintendo DS > Racing
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Players have the option of tweaking their vehicles with more than thirty different options to squeeze out as much performance as possible. The action primarily takes place on the upper screen, showcasing the game's advanced 3D graphics viewable from three distinct camera angles. There is even a replay feature so players can relive specific moments in the race. The lower screen provides details on the player's progress, as well as strategic options that will give players the advantage against their track rivals. Also included: wireless four-player multiplayer, single race, championship, and cop chase.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Smooth 3D graphics marred by annoying flaws, December 7, 2004

By 

Gadgester "No Time, No Money" (Mother Earth) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Asphalt Urban GT (Video Game)

The first racing game available for the Nintendo DS, Asphalt: Urban GT is a fun arcade-style racing game that's unfortunately marred by some really annoying flaws.

Detailed review follows quick summary.

Pros:
+ console-like 3D graphics
+ great framerate
+ lots of high-speed racing fun
+ nice selection of cities
+ good replay value

Cons:
- graphics way too dark
- graphics too complex for DS's small screen
- does not remember customized controls
- no reverse, no stick shift
- tough CPU opponents

Asphalt: Urban GT (AUGT for short) puts you behind the wheel of one of 25 cars ranging from Lamborghini to Nissan to VW New Beetle, from coupes to muscle cars to 4x4 SUVs. You can race in one of several cities including Miami, Chenobyl, New York, Hong Kong, and more. While breaking no new grounds, AUGT puts together elements from some of the most successful racing games on the PS2 and Xbox; you'll recognize Need for Speed, Test Drive, Burnout, and maybe others in this game. Overall, the game does an admirable job implementing the best features of the other games which results in a potentially fun gaming experience.

Being an arcade racer, AUGT makes it easy to get into the action quickly. You can choose from traditional races or time attacks or cop chases (sounds familiar?). Like other racing games, you can pick the career mode (called evolution here) and earn cash to unlock cars. The audio takes advantage of the DS's stereo capabilities and you can be your own DJ, choosing from a small number of music tracks.

The graphics on the game is pretty good, reminding me of racing games on the original PS. The framerate is awesome: even when you use boost to get into high speed racing, the framerate never slows down. The smooth graphics makes the game very playable (unlike the Nokia Ngage version of the same game).

Unfortuantely, the graphics tends to be too dark. Mind you, the DS's screens, albeit backlit, are not very bright unless you are in the dark (nothing unfamiliar to GBA SP users). AUGT can be very hard to see, especially when the screen gets crowded with other vehicles. The dark graphics also means background elements like buildings, obstacles and other cars would blend together, making it difficult to, say, recognize upcoming corners. (In all fairness, the Rallisport Challenge-like direction arrow hints help a little.) I have shown the game to my gamer buddies and all had the same reaction: awesome framerate and background graphics, but lousy brightness. Plus, we all felt the DS's screens are too small for the complexity of the game's graphics. (The top screen is used for racing, the bottom shows course map and stats.)

Another major annoyance is while you can customize the controls -- the default is unconventional so you likely need to change them -- the game does NOT save your configuration! Every time you power off the DS, your controls preference is lost, and next time you'll have to set them again. This is just plain stupid.

One more thing that happens occasionally but really pisses me off is when you run into a stalled vehicle in the road, you are pretty much stuck as you can't back out of the jam (there's no reverse in this game, as there is no gear shift, either). At that point you'll have to restart the race or just quit.

Oh, another thing I don't understand why, like most racing games, it's so hard to beat your CPU opponents, even at the lowest difficulty level. I have not been able to finish first, no matter how hard I try.

In short, I'm rather disappointed that while AUGT could have been a really fun game to play, its dark graphics, inability to save customized controls and lack of new play modes put it in the so-so, can-miss category. Unless you are a hardcore racer like me, you should probably spend your $30 on another DS game.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazingly fun and highly addictive, January 16, 2005

By 

Brad K (New York City) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Asphalt Urban GT (Video Game)

I made myself make a choice between Asphalt Urban GT and Ridge Racer and after reading reviews for both, I went for Asphalt. I can't speak for Ridge Racer, but Asphalt was probably my best decision yet for my DS. This is simply one amazing game.

First of all, I agree with most everything that's been said before. It takes some getting used to at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's virtually impossible to put this game down. There are five different basic types of 'arcade' games in addition to the multi-card play, but where this game shines is in the career mode, which here is called Evolution. After proving yourself as a viable racer, you begin a seemingly never-ending quest to prove yourself on the road by entering different types of races, winning cars, cash and/or upgrades along the way. You can use the money to either fine tune the cars you already have through a series of upgrades in the garage (including re-painting or even changing the body altogether) or you can continue to purchase one of dozens of other well-known cars to gain access to other races. The game play alone is great and would be worth playing over and over, but Asphalt enhances that experience by always having another goal to reach, object to unlock or other incentive to entice the player.

What I also love about this game is its elegant simplicity. Instead of making desperate, goofy use of the new DS features like some games do with the touch screen or the microphone, this game wisely uses the touchscreen as an overview map of the course displaying all of your fellow drivers, but doesn't actually require you to use your stylus.

The game is not perfect, however. My first gripe with the game, as already mentioned several times, is that the only option the game apparently doesn't save is the control settings. It's not that difficult to reset them to your likings however, just a slight nuisance. Myself, I prefer making A accelerate, B brake, X turbo and Y horn, but it's easy enough to figure out what works best for you.

My only other issue with the game is the game doesn't make it entirely clear which option you have selected when there's only two options to choose from. Instead of marking the active option with some sort of token, the color simply changes. How do you know which is selected when one item is Yellow and the other is White? and in some cases, the colors are even different. I accidentally sold one of my cars because I couldn't tell which option I had selected. The work around here is to just rely on using the B button when you intend to choose No.

Of course I could also complain that I wasted away an entire Saturday trying to complete every race I could get my fingers on, but I can't honestly regret any second of it.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great !!!!!, June 14, 2005

A Kid's Review

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:1.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Asphalt Urban GT (Video Game)

This game is definitly better than Ridge Racer. I have both but this one comes out on top. Here are some up's and down's.

Asphalt Urban GT
Goods
1.great graphics
2.REAL CARS
3.real places to race such as Miami
Bads
1.controls are a little hard

Ridge Racer.
Good.
1. better fo younger kids.
2.Single card download
Bad.
1.no turbo
2.some fake cars

I would recomend Ridge raccers for younger kids but Asphalt Urban GT for people who know about most sport cars.