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"Very Disappointing,..."

The highly anticipated Racing game from Capcom was not I expected and told myself that Capcom should ''steer'' away from Racing games for awhile. Several elements in the game ruined it to be such a great game, and I think Capcom should take this into consideration if they plan on making a sequel.

Graphics (7/10) - Pretty unique effort using cell shading for a racing game, and the background wasn't too bad. But I just felt cell shading doesn't fit into a racing game because I think it's more for Comic/Anime adaptations. The exhaust shooting out and the waves when making a turn were a cool addition though.

Gameplay (3/10) - This is one of the elements of the game that ruined the game completely, if not, the ONLY. there are two options; Arcarde and Garage life. Arcade is straightforward where your pick a car, choose a track, and you're off either against the computer, or another player. Garage life is kind of similar except you start from the bottom who is trying to be at the top. You start out with a car from famous brands of your choice, and try to win races to unlock more parts, and stickers. Simple right? Wrong...because it seems the laws of Physics in the game will aggravate you after spinning off from a turn even though you know yourself you did it right. The controls in the game are horrible because the laws of Physics in this game also deny the act of drifting. You try drifting in the game, most likely, you're bound to spin off the track. Even with the help of tuning your car to be the best drifting car, you'll still spin off or probably hit the wall. You might get better control with a steering wheel, but I'm speaking in terms of the PS2 controller. I've played plenty of racing games with the PS2 controller with no problem, but this game is by far the worst. The online play is probably keeping this game alive for quite a bit with decent lag.

Music/Sound - 4/10 - The music is very bland and unmotivating. Maybe one or two songs might get you pumped up when racing, but they can take you not that far. Of course there is a announcer who is annoying as ****, but when they are not? Other than that, the sounds of the cars driving, skidding, etc. are not bad at all.

Replayability - ''IF'' you manage to get a hang of the lousy controls, it wouldn't take you long to get all the secrets and there is nothing more after that since they are not that many tracks in the game. If you didn't get a hang of the controls, then you probably stop playing the game after one hour. You might have fun racing others online who can't cope with the controls as well.

To buy or to rent? - Rent the game to see for yourself or you're a hardcore racing fan who has a steering wheel.

I myself like racing games like Ridge Racer, Gran Turismo, and Initial D. This one is not alright in my book and hope to get my money back. You might go for games other than choppy game, and I'm not stopping you to try out this game. I'm just giving you a fare warning that the laws of Physics won't be in your favor.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 07/24/03, Updated 07/24/03