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Reviews (9)
28 February 2011
Given the marque represented, I expected more.
1 of 1 found this helpful The game offers a nice variety of cars, tracks, and race types. I like most of the music but still turn it off while racing. I won't bore you with a list of cars or tracks; such info is available elsewhere.
Why would someone use push buttons for brake and throttle inputs? I often find myself blipping the throttle when full throttle isn’t appropriate. Might as well be driving a Sopwith Camel instead of a classic Ferrari.
The graphics are good enough to provide an immersive experience, especially with the driver cam view. Cars in rear mirror are just basic polygons. Limiting car details in rear view likely helps frame rate. Damage modeling is minimal. You’ll see some bent sheetmetal if you crash your car but performance doesn’t seem to be affected. If you rub another car, you'll hear a noise and see some small polygons fly. Some of the paint shop colors are ugly, especially the greens. Replay mode is very basic with no camera controls.
Some menu paths are odd. You can view a car's tech specs in the showroom before purchase; after buying a car, go to the Change Car menu in Time Trial to see the specs. You cannot enter a driver name, only a team name. I discovered that choosing Default for one chassis setting resets ALL chassis adjustments. The manual does not explain this.
Some tracks are easier to learn than others. For me, Monza was tough while Silverstone was fairly easy. I can’t run on wet tracks to save my life. Mastering the track layouts, memorizing the curves and bumps, takes time. Even with the racing line on, you must know the tracks well and slow down just the right amount for turns.
The cars do have individual driving characteristics and sounds. Tweaking the assists to suit your driving style helps; reducing assist levels means you get more money after the race ends. Having variable inputs for brake and throttle would add a lot to the driving feel the cars. Getting the feel for your car’s brakes is very helpful if you want to use the racing line effectively. It is possible to shove other cars off the track and put them behind. Staying ahead of a passed car isn't usually difficult, as if some of the AI cars give up once you pass them.
The terse instruction book is nearly useless. I didn’t find Ferrari Challenge listed anywhere on the Activision web sites. I haven’t found any faqs, setup guides, etc., for this game. Either nobody plays it, everyone else gave up on it, or even faq writers don't have time to learn this game well enough to write about it.
Should you buy this game? If you are easily frustrated and expect to master the game quickly, then check other titles first. If you like Ferraris and collect every prancing horse item you can find, then you need this game too. Everyone else should read at least several detailed reviews. It is fun to get access to new tracks and buy new cars. Ferrari Challenge might satisfy your need to collect some nice cars without spending a lot of real money.
Sometimes I get frustrated after leading about 80% of a race, then making a mistake that puts me last for the finish. At such times I feel like turning the Wii off or playing something else. The sense of accomplishment when I get it right brings me back for more.
Overall I like Ferrari Challenge but feel the developers could have done better. An aftermarket steering wheel and pedal set would probably help you get more of the Ferrari driving experience that I think is hidden within this game.
23 January 2010
I've finished career mode 5 times so I must like it.
1 of 1 found this helpful I was a bit worried about getting NFSC for Wii after reading various reviews and getting the impression that there aren't really any good racing sims for the Wii. Wrong. Need for Speed: Carbon for Wii is pretty cool.
Some of you "professional" virtual racers might not find it very challenging. For ordinary folks like me, however, I think that once you find a good control setup and get used to it, the cars in this game can be a heckuva lotta fun to drive.
One thing I don't like are a few minor bugs: rare but annoying screen or sound freezes. Fortunately, the game will autosave your progress before the lockup so go ahead and hold the power button in for five or ten seconds to reboot. UPDATE: I think using cheat codes might corrupt the game save file. Saving a few times without entering any more cheat codes seems to fix the file.
For a control config, I ended up twisting the nunchuck for steering and tilting the Wii remote up and down for brake/throttle. It takes a little while to get used to but works well. Using the nunchuck joystick allows steering that's more precise, with less feeling of lag or rubberiness, but for me the joystick is too small and slippery for intense driving.
Overall, I find that NFS Carbon for Wii gives me lots of things to do: lots of cars, lots of cool upgrade appearance and performance parts, and lots of races too. It is true that all the scenery is pretty much the same. No matter where in the city you drive, you see the same downtown, suburban, and industrial details. Still, the driving is fun, control is good, sensation of speed is pretty good (IMO), and the cut-scenes are entertaining in a slightly lame sort of way.
At 10 to 20 bucks used, you get a pretty decent driving sim with NFS Carbon. TIP: once you start playing, ask someone to remind you to take a bathroom break. Yeah, I do get that involved in this game.
10 May 2006
Could be better with some fine tuning and polish
2 of 3 found this helpful I bought HR:GTG because it was cheap and looked interesting, since it's a drag racing game. Nice selection of cool cars (game maker uses generic names like "69 Sport Coupe" to avoid licensing problems), lots of parts, and a few subtleties like individual racetrack "personalities" make the game potentially very good. The graphics aren't bad, control is pretty fair, and the screenshot feature is nice, although it would have been nice if the player had more options for camera and replay control.
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Unfortunately, the game feels like it was rushed to market before it was finished (I guess that's true of most games). The sound effects aren't always synchronized. The NPC cars behave oddly at times; they veer into the wall or into player's car, sometimes with surprising frequency. The game rules are a bit odd at times: if player crosses the centerline and hits opponent car, player is disqualified. But if the NPC car crashes into the player then--the player is disqualified? Sometimes the displayed race result at finish line is "Lose" during a tournament, yet the post-race screen will show you as winner.
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Upgrading parts can be cumbersome because in the "Shelf" menu for parts you have purchased, it doesn't seem like you can select which part to install. The game seems to always pick the uppermost part in the list.
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In the Advanced level tournament (one level below Hot Rod), if you win a tournament, then your travel expenses to that track are supposed to be "covered," i.e., zero dollars in future. This doesn't always happen. Sometimes my travel cost to a "won" track is zero, moments later, there is a dollar amount shown.
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Once in a while, the game crashes for no apparent reason but that might be a hardware or software problem on my end. As of this writing, there are no patches, a couple of cheats, and only generic technical support. Save the game often while you're playing. I have discovered that some Windows XP security patches cause game to crash, although I don't have the KB numbers at the moment.
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Hardware requirements are modest by today's standards: on my computer with 1.8 Ghz cpu and 512mb memory w/shared video ram, game runs very nicely. With computer upgraded to 1GB ram and 256mb video card, game performance is about the same.
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For those who are interested, some of the installed game files are editable text format so various kinds of cheating are possible (like editing the costs of items or their performance-improving effects).
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Overall, I find the idea of a drag racing game appealing, especially when it features '60s and '70s muscle cars plus some vintage rides. I would have liked to see a bit more time spent on prerelease testing. One confession: I've never played the game on line, which might make for an entirely different gaming experience.
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Should you buy this game? Despite the game's bugs and incomplete appearance, I enjoy playing it. Since it's only ten bucks or less (US dollars), I'd say it's worth a try if you're interested in drag racing games and classic Detroit iron. If you don't like the game, you can give it away--or sell it on eBay! :-)
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BTW, I know I've focused on the game's negative points. Why? Well, it's a drag racing game, meaning that you can probably figure out what this game is about by yourself. For the positive aspects, look at the package or the ValueSoft web site. My review aims to provide info you wan't get from the back of the box.