by Vinson Chen

Created on: August 19, 2009

Nintendo is mostly known for its incredible gaming consoles and certain video games such as The Legend of Zelda. However, there are many video games that Nintendo makes that are overshadowed by the impressive statuses of their other creations. This underrated game that I speak of doesn't even have its own Wikipedia page. Ridge Racer DS is a racing game for the Nintendo DS and is not well known to the public despite its smooth racing.

There are plenty of other racing games for the DS, but Ridge Racer DS was the first to have smooth turning and simple controls that fit that thumbs of gamers efficiently. The quality turns allowed on Ridge Racer DS allow gamers to race without being distracted by poor turning. Other racing titles for the DS such as Asphalt Urban GT make turning to sharp. However, when good things come about on the DS, bad things go along with it.

With smooth turning, players don't need to brake whenever it comes down to the sharper curves on racetracks. It means two things. First, getting first place becomes incredibly easy when a racer doesn't need to brake at all during the entire race. It's not very fun winning without any competition on the road. Secondly, it takes away from the gameplay. By not needing to use the brake pedal to slow down for turns, racing in Ridge Racer DS just doesn't feel as interactive.

Although the game does need to work on making players feel delve deeply into the game, its simple yet efficient controls allow it to make up for that. Instead of concentrating on figuring out which button does what, Ridge Racer DS uses standard racing controls and touch screen compatible controls as well. First, there are three different types of controls available and they are Control Pad, Stylus, and Wrist Strap.

Control Pad is the standard racing control. The player uses the directional pad to streer, the A button to accelerate and the B button to brake. Also the Select button toggles the camera view which include 3rd person and 1st person angles. And a new addition to racing games involves being able to manually control the gears of the car by using L and R to lower or raise the gear setting.

The Stylus and Wrist Strap are similar in that they use a steering wheel located on the touch screen to turn left and right. Unfortunately the stylus control causes hand cramps due to the tight and uncomfortable position needed to steer and the wrist strap must be used on the left hand for steering for some reason. Overall, the control

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