D1 Grand Prix: Skidding Out Of Control

Anyone who has seen "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" has an idea of drift racing's popularity in Japan. Although the sport was imported to the United States in 2003 courtesy of the U.S. D1 Grand Prix, it's still not mainstream here.

In drifting, points are awarded for drifting around turns at full speed with the hand brake pulled while avoiding the car competing against you. (Video game drivers know this as a power slide, which has been a staple of racing games for years.) Unfortunately, mixing the "sport" of D1 Grand Prix with video games is a wipeout.

There are many problems with the game. In any racing game, it's important to get a feel for the car's weight, especially when trying to drift without going off the track or hitting an opponent who is inches away. Every car in this game handles the same, and there's no sense of weight whatsoever. Sliding through a turn feels more like driving on ice than on asphalt. This makes controlling the cars extremely difficult, but it's a gameplay flaw rather than a skill challenge. On top of that, the game's scoring system makes no sense. Speed into a wall at top speed and lose 50 points, but touch a blade of grass on an overshot turn and lose 100. There's no deduction for flipping or totaling your car. It gets even more frustrating with your opponent, because points seem to be randomly deducted from you even if the other driver rams into your vehicle. Also, the computer-controlled driver is always better than you, regardless of difficulty level. These problems plague the game in every mode, which makes this game a total wreck.

-- John Gaudiosi

D1 Grand Prix Everyone 10+; PlayStation 2 ($40) Yuke's Company of America