Arcade racing goes handheld

Aug 4, 2008 07:54 GMT  ·  By

You are probably still playing the wonderfully crafter TrackMania Nations Forever for free on your PC (and if you don't, go here to download it) but you certainly thought, at least once since you started playing, how cool it would be to have a handheld version of the game to enjoy wherever you go. The answer to this little problem of yours will come by the end of the year, because Focus Home Interactive and Firebrand have teamed up to bring TrackMania to Nintendo's DS.

The game is a bit different from your regular racing title since it comes with some more arcade features, like crazy jumps, loops, turbo boosts and all sorts of zany design elements that will keep you hooked for hours, offering hi-octane races and lightning fast cars.

Of course, one of the most important aspects of TrackMania Nations Forever is (except for the fact that it is a free-to-play game) its online multiplayer option. Sadly, it seems that TrackMania DS will not offer multiplayer at all, which would be very sad. Hopefully, the developers just forgot to mention that aspect, but it's there.

With or without multiplayer modes, the game will bring fans a huge campaign with three game modes and no less than one hundred original circuits. Also, an easy to use 3D track editor is incorporated in the game, allowing you to easily create your own tracks using pre-made design blocks. All the created tracks can then be shared with your friends (and hopefully that's the place where the developers will insert the multiplayer options, too).

TrackMania DS will be easily controlled using the stylus (both the racing part of the game and the track creation) and promises to offer handheld fans a bit of the adrenaline PC users feel when they play this masterpiece for free.