Review:
Need For Speed: Nitro - Wii

Need for speed: Nitro – Wii

Finally the highly successful Need for Speed franchise has decided to make a game that is...wait for it…custom made for the Wii! Up until now, Wii users have had to make do with an average collection of jumbled up parts from other Need for Speed games, none of them really working with the system and all being a fairly poor representation of a great series. So, many gamers will be excited about this brand new era of NFS games. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I have to say right now that a serious racing game enthusiast will almost certainly feel let down by what is an unconvincing representation of other fantastic NFS games on PS3 and Xbox.

Its main downfalls in becoming a genuine contender as a realistic game are firstly the cars themselves. They do not seem to truthfully represent the cars they are trying to imitate; the designers have attempted to go with the current Wii theme of chunkier, brighter, faster, more colourful and simply bigger. The result is an unrealistic experience, with cars zooming around all over the place, giving gamers a feeling of little control over their vehicles. The other major flaw I found is a real lack of depth in the game; it is a struggle to remain interested after only a couple of hours of play. It lacks the real variety to keep it players engrossed after a few quick goes whizzing round the track. Its final shortcoming is that there is none of the brilliant addictiveness of games such as Mario Kart, where hours of simply racing is in no way tedious.

However, maybe I am being a bit harsh. After all, who is the game aimed at? Serious gamers, desperate for their authentic racing fix? Obviously not. It is essentially an arcade style game, aimed at casual gamers - as is increasingly becoming the case for many Wii games – who want a fun, quick, and easy way to race, and this it what Nitro really excels at. It successfully brings accessible, enjoyable racing to the masses (well, all those who chose to get a Wii). The danger with this style of fun, cartoony gaming is that you alienate those gamers who do want a real racing game for the Wii, and NFS: Nitro does stray rather too close to the line between full game and what should maybe be a mini game on a much fuller version of the title.