ATV Quad Power Racing

ATV Quad Power Racing Description

With the Game Boy Advance now in its second year, it's nice to see that developers are finally beginning to work out what the little machine is capable of. Originally touted as basically a miniature SNES, on the graphical front, the GBA is now reaching standards more comparable to early Playstation titles. This is certainly so with ATV Quad Power Racing - it looks very nice. Developer Tantalus has built quite an impressive 3D engine for this little racer, which knocks out smooth, detailed road textures with enviable draw distance. But as a wise prophet once said, "Good graphics do not a great game make." Or something. Basically a pocket-sized conversion of the two-year-old Playstation game of the same name, ATV Quad Power Racing delivers very much your average racing experience. Being a quad simulator, however, emphasis has been placed on the emulation of the vehicle's handling and physics, presenting an accurate, if a little uncontrollable, representation of the machines' 4-wheel independent suspension. A total of ten tracks and nine vehicles feature in the game, available across three classes of racing. The main single-player game is Challenge Mode. This pits players in races against seven computer opponents and requires a certain finish position in order to qualify and unlock subsequent tracks. An accompanying Arcade Mode is also available, offering players the chance to have a quick race on any of the unlocked tracks. Most notable in it's absence, unfortunately, in any sign of a multiplayer option. It's generally unheard of these days to omit a link-up option, especially in a game of this genre. Nevertheless, ATV looks well, feels comfortable once you get used to the controls, and offers enough tracks to keep players satisfied for a while. The longevity, however, is severely dogged by the aforementioned shortfall.