On paper, Asphalt's features look quite impressive and for the most part they live up the claims. The size of the single-player and the arcade modes especially live up to expectations. The Championship mode is made up of 30 events, each consisting of several races. For Arcade racing there is a tournament mode, a time attack and a cop chase that evokes memories of Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit. Adding to the value of the Arcade mode is a difficulty setting that ranges from easy to almost impossible.

Of the cars there is quite a few available to be unlocked with the amount of licencing in the game putting similar titles to shame. From the heavier vehicles like the Hummer to the high-end Lamborghinis and Aston Martins, Asphalt sports an impressive range of vehicles, each handling slightly differently.

Each of the cars is also able to be modified to a certain extent, with a wide range of options to either make the car look or drive differently. Different body types and paint jobs are available to alter the looks, while a large number of parts can be replaced to improve performance. New exhausts, suspension, tyres, brakes, transmission and weight reduction are available to fully customise a vehicle.

The racing itself is fairly simplistic. While there are generally seven other cars in the race they are spaced well apart from each other, and it is rare to see two racers on the screen at once. Players always start at the back of the field, which is spread out across a quarter of the track from the outset and must be passed to win the race. With the field spread out the race feels more like a series of one-on-one tussles rather than racing a complete field. Once a car is passed it generally drops back - perhaps a techical necessity - as you close in on the next.

This is something of a pity, since the driving is well done and the cars within a field fairly balanced. However it is not surprising considering Asphalt: Urban GT is a game that was originally made for less-powerful mobile phones.

At the times when there are several cars on the screen at once the frame-rate holds up rather well, with only a slight increase in the amount of blur on the screen. The same can also be said when encountering non-racing traffic on the track. In fact it is Asphalt's looks and speed that could be its greatest asset. The amount of detail onscreen is quite impressive, especially on the neon-covered city tracks.

The tracks have wide corners that need little in the way of braking and can be drifted around easily. Only a few times around the same course should be sufficient to learn it, with only slight adjustments needed as different vehicles are used. That there are only eight of these courses is rather disappointing, especially given that the Championship is so large. Reversing the courses helps, but not to any great extent when the cornering strategy can remain largely similar.

The biggest disappointment of Asphalt: Urban GT would have to be the almost total lack of utilisation of the DS's more exciting features. The touch screen is used for the map and showing the other car's relative positions but it is not an integral part of the game and the experience wouldn't change a great deal if it were removed. Features like the touch-screen or microphone are not used at all, apart from in the menu screens. While it may be hard to imagine what these features could do in a racing game, it is a let down that Gameloft has not taken up that challenge.

The only feature of the DS that is properly used is the wireless multiplayer option, and for this up to four people can be involved. With the removal of the lacklustre AI and three modes of racing this promises to be an enjoyable feature once a collection of DS gamers can be gathered. Unfortunately the game doesn't take advantage of the DS's downloading capability and for multiplayer each DS needs to have a copy of the game.