Review: Ducati Moto (NDS)
Ducati Moto
Genre: Arcade Racing
Developer: Vir2l Studios
Publisher: Bethesda Game Studios
Release Date: 07/07/08
I admit it: I can be a pretty harsh critic. Guilty as charged. That is my sin as a video game reviewer and I suffer it gladly. That is why Ducati Moto DS has me so out of sorts. I find myself liking it in spite of what I thought made a game good. Could this little arcade motorcycle racing game be better than the sum of it’s parts?
Story/ Modes
The story of Ducati Moto is thus: you are a guy, or gal, who enjoys Ducati motorcycles and races them against other Ducatis for money and fame. Luckily, the variety of racing modes makes up for this rather flat plot.
For each area of the world, there are three tracks to race on. The Race mode is pretty straight forward. Your bike and four others go around the track 3 times and the first three places get money and points. Time Attack mode is another fairly simple mode, you race against a set of three times trying to get the best time. Eliminator is a more interesting version of Race mode. There are four bikes on the track and after each lap, the last place competitor is eliminated from the race. Race Line is my favorite of the modes. In Race Line, you are alone on the track, collecting stars laid out on the best racing line for the track. Race Line actually teaches you how to race a track correctly, if you pay attention to the star line.
Stunt mode deserves a little more attention. Basically a set of mini games, the stunt mode has you wheelie popping, long jumping, and burning donuts with your Ducati. The best thing about Stunt mode is that it has little bearing on your advancement through the game.
How do you advance through the game, you ask? Well, each win on the Championship circuit earns you cash and points. Cash can be used to buy new upgrades and new bikes. Upgrades make bikes vastly different from stock bikes and the bikes handle differently on different tracks. Points are used to unlock new areas and the tracks they contain. Cash can also be earned from gambling against other racers before the green light. These little sequences give you a chance to increase your finances and get a glimpse of the other riders’ personalities. It should be noted that this game contains riders of both sexes and a variety of ethnicities, which is a nice touch seldom featured in games, even now.
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