Dragon Booster – NDS – Review

With Nintendo DS owners
and racing fans enjoying the magnificently designed and downright addictive
races of Mario Kart DS, Konami has decided to bring us their latest
effort. Dragon Booster is a racing game set in a fantasy world where
humankind and dragon kind are at odds but the only thing that can save this
world is a race where battle is also waged on these racecourses. With men riding
dragons, the races are on but believe me when I say that you will want to drop
out of the race after the first few laps.

The game focuses on a
Dragon-Human War that threatens the very livelihood of Dragon City and rips the
planet apart. It’s a Star Dragon named Beau that quickly comes to his senses and
picks a human to be his champion in order to show everyone that humans and Star
Dragons can co-exist like in the old days. Fast forward 3000 years later and a
war is preparing to spread across the land again. This time the champion is a
young man named Artha Penn, a new chosen Dragon Booster who fights to prevent
the war from unfolding.

Based on an animated
series, Dragon Booster attempts to capture the series most action-packed
moments, particularly the races that allow Dragon Boosters to use weapons during
the races. Aside from worrying about your opponent zapping you there’s the
obstacles laid out within the racecourses that slow you down or even drop you
off the face of the world. While you can pick other riders and their dragons, it
is as Artha Penn and his pairing with legendary Star Dragon Beau that you earn
credit and help prevent the outbreak of a new war. The races take place in
various different courses throughout Dragon City and thankfully you can earn
enough money to purchase gear for your dragon and for your rider.

The game offers an All
City Races mode that places you on various city street races in courses that
take you all throughout the neon-lit futuristic city. The first racecourse, in
Mid-City, is a winding racecourse with opponents that will try to knock you out
of the race in the most annoying fashion. Instead of smartly attempting to push
you off the course they zap you with their chosen weapon. It slows you down for
a fraction of a second but it doesn’t really stop the flow of the race. Equally
annoying is the fact that you’ll have to struggle with the game controls (but
I’ll get to that in a minute).

There’s a Training mode
and Free Run mode that is both useful as training tools but when you’re ready
for a variety from the regular racing mode there’s Grudge Match and Mini
Challenges mode. Grudge Match is the game’s multiplayer mode where you and a
friend can race against each another using the wireless connection and a single
card. Mini Challenges is a mode that offers two distinct game modes such as
Skills Competition and Dragon-Human Duel. Skills Competition has you racing
against a single opponent as you try to shoot down as many of your red targets
before the end of the run – the player with the most targets shot down wins.
Dragon-Human Duel has you; again, up against a single opponent only here you’ll
be racing and battling. The more you harm your opponent and pick up objects the
more points you gain to win the race.

All of this sounds okay on
paper but when it comes down to the controls the game becomes a frustrating
mess. You can steer your dragon with the directional pad but most of the game’s
other control features are, baffling enough, have you tapping the touch screen.
If you want to jump over a barrier you tap the touch screen. Do you want to
shoot a target during Skills Competition then tap the target. Worse yet is the
fact that the races feel rather clunky and at times the framerate might make for
some unnecessary stutters. In short, your dragon feels like it’s running on
rails and will not fail to frustrate.

As for the game’s visuals,
they bring to mind the worst Game Boy Advance games available. We’ve seen better
on the Nintendo DS but this is an inexcusable use of the system’s graphical
capabilities. The racecourses, for example, are horribly pixilated and lack
detail for a game that’s set in the future. Even the dragon models look awful
during races. The game’s cut scenes are handled through text with riders
displayed in true cartoon fashion. As for the visual effects, the game doesn’t
even do that with imagination.

On the other hand, the
game’s soundtrack is more than decent. It’s dramatic in all the right moments,
although it can grow a bit repetitive as if the music were on a loop. Yet it
makes each race seem all the more grander and that’s a nice touch. There are
also some decent sound effects but there aren’t enough to really stand out.

You would think racing
dragons and doing battle during fierce competitive races would be fun but, sadly
enough, Dragon Booster proves that not even the touch screen technology
of the Nintendo DS could save the game from its poor design. There are plenty of
modes available but thanks to the awkward controls and framerate stutters this
is a game best left unexplored by racing fans.

#Review Scoring Details for Dragon Booster

Gameplay: 2.5
Aside from being incredibly
unresponsive, the game’s control scheme is confusing and thus makes the races
incredibly awkward. There are a few modes including two mini challenges designed
to test your skills and they do add more variety but they are hardly any fun.

Graphics: 3.5
The graphics are quite an eyesore
for a Nintendo DS game. In fact, the game looks like the worst GBA game with its
lackluster character design and even poorly designed racecourses. The game is
very limited in terms of visual effects and the cartoon characters during cut
scenes are just plain.

Sound: 5.0
The game’s music is actually
surprisingly excellent with the game’s music changing dramatically during races.
There are some sound effects but they get a bit repetitive but other than that
it’s far better than the game’s visuals.

Difficulty: Medium
You will spend more time trying to
get comfortable with the controls than worrying about your opponents. Even
battles become a fight against awkward character movements rather than a test of
skill.

Concept: 3.0
There’s gear to buy and equip your
rider with and there are passwords used to unlock extras. There are even mini
challenges and grudge matches. The racing isn’t incredibly deep or inventive,
though, and the DS touch screen functionality is dull.

Multiplayer: 2.0
The good news is that the game
supports wireless multiplayer races for up to two-players and using a single
card a friend can download a good portion. The bad news is that the game moves
along at an unsteady framerate and because of the clunky controls your friend
will not want to finish the race.

Overall: 2.7
An unimaginative racing game with no
real worthwhile moments, Dragon Booster is just one of those titles that
are hardly worth a glance for any Nintendo DS owner. Clumsy to control and an
eyesore in terms of visual presentation, this is, sadly enough, not one of
Konami’s best portable games out there.