Review: Micro Machines V4
Score: 46
Sigh. Games like this make me very depressed. They make me wonder if the developers actually, you know, test the games on anybody before burning them to a DS ROM?
Anyway, this is Micro Machines (again), in its latest version for various platforms, including the DS.
You know the idea. Micro/toy cars that you guide round living rooms, kitchens, table tops, garages, hen runs (etc.) - there are plenty of new scenarios, several difficulty levels and various competition modes, but they're all completely irrelevant because the gameplay if horribly flawed.
The one problem is that you don't get to see enough of the 'track' ahead at any one time, so it's difficult to plan any kind of strategic line - objects and turns are upon you faster than you can blink and that's not much fun. The fun should be in getting your micro machine around the corner by skillful driving.
The other problem (err.... ok, so that's now two) is that the driving model for the cars is wild and there's no sense of being that much in control.
And the final problem (so, er... we're up to three now, and this one's a biggy) is that the cars themselves and all the powerups are rendered just too small. I know this is supposed to be micro machines, but caring about blobby car-things trying to collect unrecognisable (blobby) powerups just isn't that easy.
Best avoided.