GT Advance Championship Racing GBA

GT Advance Championship Racing for Game Boy Advance is an excellent racing sim featuring real-world rides from Daihatsu, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota. With 32 on- and off-road tracks to tackle, GT Advance should get any gearhead revved up and ready to race.

The first thing you'll notice about GT Advance is its impressive visual presentation. Each of the 48 vehicles is finely detailed and available in a variety of colors. Backgrounds are filled with interesting scenery, including snow-capped mountains and glittery city lights. Overall, racing fans will be impressed with the smooth graphics and crisp look of the cars in GT Advance.

GT Advance is a simulation racing game, but mercifully the physics system is forgiving enough to keep things fun rather than frustrating. Your car will fishtail if you take a turn too quickly, but generally it's pretty easy to keep your tires on the road. You'll have to use your brakes to stay on track, and if you're really up for a challenge you can try to use the manual transmission option.

GT Advance's Championship Mode features four race classes, each of which contains an eight-course circuit. As you win races, you'll unlock new cars and special upgrades which can be used to customize your ride. If you perform exceptionally well, you can unlock bonus modes of play called Extra 1 and Extra 2. Extra 1 turns all of the cars into go-carts, and Extra 2 transforms the cars into Formula-One racers.

If you're looking for some human competition, try GT Advance's Vs. Mode. You'll need two GBAs, two GT Advance Game Paks and a Game Boy Advance Game Link Cable to go head-to-head with a friend.

If you're the type of person who can tell the make and model of any automobile just by listening to its engine, then GT Advance Championship Racing will definitely get your motor running.

Last updated on 10 December 2007