NFSKirk's weekend with NITRO

Submitted by Kirk Pedersen on Mon, 2009-11-09 09:32

 

I'll admit I went into this weekend with more than a little bit of excitement -it's not often your boss sends you home Friday evening with a Nintendo Wii and instructions to play all weekend, but I thoroughly enjoyed my weekend with Need for Speed NITRO.

 

Not owning a Wii myself, I thought the controls for NITRO would take a long time to get used to, but I was pleasantly surprised with how well the Wiimote and Nunchuk played together once I fired up the game.

 

I started with $20,000 to buy my first ride. Not surprisingly, the choices were pretty meagre - either a Volkswagen Type 2 van or a Renault 4L sedan. I went with the Renault because of its superior handling, not really being tempted by the mini VW bus.

 

After I picked my car, I was sure to paint it red, my favorite color, even though I've never owned a red vehicle in my life. After that, it was on to choosing my 'own it' graffiti. For this, I went with red swords that sort of looked like fleur-de-lis and a robot. Seeing buildings plastered with my color scheme when I was ahead of the pack is a cool feature - I wanted to paint every town red, literally.

 

One of the first things I noticed when I started my first race was the incredible sense of speed you get from NITRO, despite the non-sportiness of my car, it felt like a blur as I raced to my first win in Rio.

 

Drifting is a major part of Need for Speed SHIFT, but you don't need to use it in every race. In NITRO, the better you drift, the easier it is to rack up major points, as well as evade law enforcement heat. Early on, the cops mostly drive Hummer H2s, which have difficulty stopping a drifting racer.

 

Speaking of drifting, there are drift challenges in every city, which I found to be very difficult, especially with my Renault. It took me several tries, but I'm pleased to say I have three stars in the first Rio drift challenge.

 

After earning a respectable amount of money ($50,000) with my Renault and unlocking Cairo, I decided to retire my trusty 4L and move up - to a 1967 Chevrolet Camaro SS. The 4L was not without its charm, but this was purely a business decision - the Camaro is a snarling beast.

 

I won my first race handily with my new ride and was impressed with its V8 growl. I think I'll be sticking with this car for a while.

 

I'd love to hear from the fans of NITRO about your first-week experiences with the first Nintendo-exclusive NFS title. Drop me a line at kirk@needforspeed.com.