There are some good things about Need for Speed Nitro. But any reasonable comparison between it and what else is available in its genre shows it to be a pale shadow of the state of the art, and on top of that, it’s short on fun.

What we’ve got here is failure to communicate. No online play for a fairly serious car-racing game in 2009? I guess it was considered not worth the effort to do. A lot of the game reeks of that attitude: very few tracks, a repetitive and simplistic career mode, limited car selection, long loading times and shockingly bad visuals combine to give an impression that the Wii version of Need for Speed is very much a poor cousin to the real deal on the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. Oh, and the racing is not all that interesting either.

Repetitive Strain

The main game mode is the career, where one to four players can join in for a sequence of races of various types. The completion of races can earn you up to 5 stars – 3 for position, 1 for beating a goal lap time, and 1 for racing with style (that is, performing drifts, jumps, drafts and racing in first place.) To start with you’re racing C class cars in the Bronze cup, and in the beginning only Rio de Janeiro is available to race in. As you earn stars you unlock four other cities and then the Grand Prix, which is a reprise of races from all five cities. Complete the Grand Prix to unlock the silver cup, allowing you the grand privilege of doing the whole sequence again in B class cars. Complete this and you get the Gold cup which means you get to do everything again in A class cars. It doesn’t even take a few hours before the repetition becomes annoying. Each city only has two tracks (and one drag straight) but has about eight events (selected from a menu), so by completion you’ve raced each track 12 or more times. If they were classic race-tracks with interesting layouts it would be bearable, but they’re really generic street-race tracks. Some variation – even the type that mixes and matches sections of track to make “new” courses – would have been very welcome.

Fortunately there is some variation in race types. There are standard circuit races, which involve two or three laps around a course. Then there are elimination races, in which every 30 seconds one racer gets eliminated and the idea is to be the last car racing. This is really very similar to a standard circuit, but adds a bit more interest. There is also a time-attack race where you try to beat a time between two points on a course using a specific car, while trying to avoid red cones strategically placed on the track. The red cones add some variation because you have to take different lines through the course in order to avoid them. There is also a drift challenge race which gives you one lap to score as many style points from drifting as possible. This involves racing very similarly to how you normally race because drifting around corners is generally the optimal way to take corners.

The two modes that offer the most variation are the speed trap and drag race modes. Drag racing takes place on a specially made track that is mostly straight, and in this mode one not only has to pull off perfectly (using a same fun pull-off gauge that’s in all the races) but also time one’s gear changes to maximize acceleration, while dodging traffic and competitors. It’s over quickly, so it’s short, to the point and interesting. Speed trap races require you to attain a specific total speed over three speed trap points. This is a little more strategic as you need to figure out how best to drive on the approach to the traps as well as when to time your boosts, so it offers more for the thinking driver.

Bonus: Lots of Control Options

One area that EA have really laid on the variation is in the control schemes. Every option possible is presented here – from Wii Remote in a vertical position to Wii Remote in horizontal (steering-wheel-like, similar to Mario Kart), from classic controller to Wii Remote and Nunchuk to even GameCube controller. I found them all usable, although the Wii Remote ones needed the “steering assist” turned on to be responsive enough, while the others were better without this turned on. The controls for the game are quite simple – steer, accelerate, drift, boost and repair are the things you can do, and you can map them to just about any control. If you’re using the Wii Remote boost is mapped to a shake of the remote, while steering is done by tilting it left and right. Using the Nunchuck just means steering is done with it instead. I do commend the control options – up to four players can join in on split screen mode, each using the control option of their choice.

But All too…Repetitive (I know, I’m repeating myself)

The main problem with Nitro is not really the limited track selection or the distracting graphics, but the all-too-bland racing. It felt a bit of a chore just getting through the Bronze cup, only to find that that’s it in terms of content – now we rinse and repeat with faster cars. Racing the B and A class cars is more fun because they’re faster, but the racing never gets particularly compelling. The whole effort feels a little budget to be honest. The menus are slick but the load times within them are ridiculous. The short 30 second cut scenes introducing the “main rival” at each city, being the only semblance of career progression, are entertaining, but said rival plays no real part in the actual racing other than being a faceless name. There is no character to Need for Speed Nitro. It’s neither here nor there – neither serious nor fun, neither for the car fans nor for the racing fans. The odd Dizzee Rascal song is about as interesting as it gets.

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