Micro Machines, the tiny toy race cars, have been integrated into children’s culture since long before the days of the original Nintendo gaming system. The NES had a Micro Machines game released, courtesy of Hasbro, and it is considered one of the earliest racing games “classics” that still hold up today. Since that original 8-bit version, there have been several notable games to follow in the same series, with Micro Machines 64 being a stand-out, almost outstripping the original. Now, the series has come to the Nintendo DS in the form of Micro Machines V4, and unfortunately it doesn’t quite live up to the legacy.

The game is designed to be a version of the game of same title released earlier in 2006 for the PS2 and PSP; in fact, originally all three versions were due to release at the same time. For whatever reason, the DS version was delayed until now. The structure of the game will be familiar to fans of these or previous titles in the series:; lots of missions to try, split into standard races, battles, and other challenges, along with lots of cars to unlock. I mean lots of cars-somewhere in the neighborhood of 750, split into all kinds of categories, like sports cars, dragsters, hot rods, and so on. The cars are won in packs, just like the toys in real life, with three cars of varying rarity in each pack. There’s also the ability to trade cars with other players. 

I wish I could say that the delay this version had has allowed the developers the time to fine-tune to the strengths and weaknesses of the DS hardware, but this has not been the case. It would, of course, be foolish to expect graphics anywhere near what the PS2 or even the PSP versions had, but even so, the game suffers visually. The ability to collect 750 unique cars is ruined when every car in a category looks more or less identical — boxy and lacking any sort of distinguishing details. The tracks, always a high point for the series, are disappointing visually, too. Constructing them from real-life stuff on the tiny car’s scale (books become ramps, cereal boxes become walls) is a neat idea that’s always worked for these games, but fails here because it’s nearly impossible to tell what the various blocky objects littering the track are supposed to be.

The gameplay has suffered the transition to DS as well. The developers tried to integrate the DS’s unique features, but did so in boring and anti-intuitive ways. They included the touch-screen steering wheel, which has never worked well ever since it’s debut at launch in Ridge Racer DS. Aside from the wheel, the second screen is used poorly, at best; even the cliché real-time map would have been an improvement. The camera system is another low point in this version. There are three camera styles, and none of them do an adequate job of showing you what you need to see without being distracting or obstructing.

These flaws could be tolerable if the core gameplay were fun; unfortunately, that’s not the case. It’s not terrible, either; ‘bland’ is the most apt term I could use to describe the gameplay. Racing against the computer plays like a boring version of Mario Kart. Video games are, by definition, supposed to be fun; when the player can barely remember any details of a course immediately after finishing it (as in this game), it’s fair to say that someone messed up.

The game does include fairly extensive multiplayer modes, but these are flawed as well. Granted, multiplayer is considerably more fun that single player, as playing with real people will always beat out playing against the computer. The aforementioned car trading mode could add some life to the title, especially among the playground, elementary school crowd. Multiplayer racing and battle courses are decent enough, but the fact that online is not supported combined with every player being required to have their own copy of the game really limits the multiplayer functionality.

This is a mediocre version of a proven fun formula. I got the impression that the developers were more worried about producing a game similar in some superficial respects to the console version than about making a fun racing game that plays to the DS’s strengths. This title, with all its modes and unlockables, had real potential to be a portable time sink. As it stands, Micro Machines V4 for the DS is a barely passable version; given the series track record (no pun intended), that’s a real shame.

Gameplay: 5.7
There’s nothing really wrong with the gameplay, but there’s not much right, either. A forgettable experience.

Graphics: 5.4
Low amounts of detail on both the cars and the tracks ruin otherwise clean, clear graphics.

Sound: 5.5
The only incredible thing about the sound is how incredibly forgettable it is. I assume there was music because I would have noticed its absence, but I certainly don’t remember anything about it.

Difficulty: Medium
Most of the challenges aren’t too tough. The real challenge comes when you try to see where you’re going versus what the camera is trying to show you.

Concept: 6.3
The concept is sound and, while not new, has made for fun games in the past. The problem here is with the execution, not the concept.

Multiplayer: 5.9
Some interesting features on the multiplayer side of things are all but negated by the lack of online and required multiple game carts.

Overall: 5.7
You’ve played this game before, but better. Youngsters might enjoy this, but there are better options available.