You mean Top Trumps

I've played the DS version and it's pretty good. Compares pretty favourably to things like Race Driver and Ridge Racer.

It actually feels quite "simmy" on the PS3, well, the physics do.

I agree... the only thing that makes it feel like arcade is that there's no 900 degree support for the G25. But still, feels more like a sim to me aswell.

Pulled from Top Gear Magazine, issue 182

GAME OF THE MONTH
FERRARI CHALLENGE TROFEO PIRELLI

Here's one for the Tifosi. Absolutely everything about this game oozes Ferrari. OK, so the clue's in the title, but seriously - this is one hardcore prancing-horse-athon.
There are 50 cars to choose from - yep, all Ferraris, and all ready to be ragged. They've even wheeled out Tiff Needell to give you some driving tips. So expect to go sideways a lot, then. More impressively, they got Bruno Senna (yes, Ayrtons's nephew) to help out in the development - he made sure the cars sounded and handled right. It's well worth keeping an eye out for his Top Gear sponsored car. The game squares up to the likes of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, and although it doesn't knock it off the throne, it does a pretty good job. The controls take some mastering, but once you get going, you'll be drifting like Tiff. You can even go online and race 15 other challengers around the world too.
Which is good stuff if you love all things Ferrari, but a bit boring if you like a more varied gaming life. Still, cheaper than driving the real thing, eh? DR

Publisher: System 3

Developer: Eutechnyx

Format: DS, PS3, PS2, WII

Price: £39.99

Rating: 14/20

Out: Now

Quote from jibber :

I dunno if there is a reward for unlocking all the cards... but i guess not.

Nothing atm, but I think an upcoming patch (possibly Wednesday) that adds the trophies system, will let you get an extra trophy once all cards are unlocked.

Quote from danowat :

Seems like a rushed release to me, the whole UI is a bit of a mess, and not very intuitive, which is a shame, because at it's core, it's a decent console racer.

The game certainly wasn't rushed, it was originally slated for a Christmas release (last year), and was put back twice so that quality of existing features could be maintained / the thousands of bugs addressed. Work is still continuing to patch features that didn't get quite enough polish (I think the multiplayer in particular has had more work put into it since release). No idea who designed the UI though, that seems to have gotten criticism in quite a few reviews.

I tried it on the Wii yesterday, to be honest I expected a bit more. The first, and biggest problem is the low FPS, its annoying even in the menus. Also, some massive load time selecting tracks, and applying options.
The game itself, the driving I mean is quite entertaining. I wont call it a sim, but with the aids turned off you really gotta fight that car out of corners.
Not bad, but the low FPS problem ruins it all, Id say its running around 20ish or so. Bah, shame, it could have been a really nice game...

Maybe I should have said it "feels" rushed.

Don't get me wrong, it's a fairly decent console racer, but it just feels a bit messy, and bit disjointed.

Looking forward to the patch, if only I can just change my name from "PLAYER" Lmao

I also hear that some DLC is coming after the patch.

It turns out the "50 Ferrari's" as advertised on the back of the box are made up of......

24 x F430's (different liveries)
26 x other Ferrari's

Haha! Nice...

It's still ok tho, there are some really nice ones, wait until you unlock them, you'll see.

Hmm, no 900 degree support!? WTF. And I'll be buying it on the PS2 so no hope for updates and fixes.

I'll wait until it goes on sale I guess... maybe.... it's tempting.

And now along comes the 'sequel', SuperCar Challenge.

Some previews:
http://www.vvvgamer.com/forum/ ... d.php?p=112216#post112216
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=220549

I'm in the beta. It's not bad, but I think LFS has spoiled me for other racing games. I don't feel the same sort of affinity as I do for Forza 2, but that might just be lack of practice.

Tell you what though - the music used for the title screen drives me nuts. Launch game, loading loading loading, then that stuck in my head for the rest of the day.

♪ Here comes my car!
♪ It goes so fast!
♪ I'll win the race so easy!

♪ Oh crap I've crashed!
♪ And now I'm last!
♪ How could I throw a victory away like that?

I'll only take credit for the McLaren and the fixed skidmarks.

I wouldn't expect it to feel as accurate as Forza 2, they researched tyres for that.

First review: http://www.thesixthaxis.com/20 ... eview-supercar-challenge/

Also, today's issue of the sun is giving away* the chance to join in the beta.
*Although it'll cost you £1.50 to enter, and with the game finished it's not actually beta testing, but you do get to try it out before it hits the shops.

There will be a PC version?

No, PS3 only I'm afraid.

Quote :

More than any other racing game I’ve ever played, this feels realistic. Playing this game with a decent racing wheel-and-seat set-up would be as close as you could hope to get to actually taking a super car around one of the world’s most famous racetracks. The only thing missing is the danger of wrapping yourself and two hundred thousand pounds worth of precision engineering around a crash-barrier. Of course, the weather also realistically affects the way you approach a lap, playing a much bigger part in track-conditions than I can recall in other games.

Hmmmmm

Quote from tristancliffe :

Hmmmmm

It's questionable weather the reviewer played any PC sims. Well Bob can tell us does it FEEL that good?

If it's anything like Ferrari Challenge, then the reviewer is exaggerating very much. FC was more or less decent in terms of realism. Some things were done very well, other things on average level, and a few small things felt clearly arcade-like.

If they haven't changed much, the review is useless... but certainly it makes you go "hmmmm...".

Quote from jibber :

If it's anything like Ferrari Challenge, then the reviewer is exaggerating very much. FC was more or less decent in terms of realism. Some things were done very well, other things on average level, and a few small things felt clearly arcade-like.

If they haven't changed much, the review is useless... but certainly it makes you go "hmmmm...".

Well with GT5 around the corner i certainly won't buy two console sims, i don't think it has better physics then GT5, that's a bit optimistic. It would help if they had a demo... will there be a demo Bob?

It wasn't more realistic overall, but in certain areas, FC felt a lot more realistic than GT5P. Weight feel of the cars, weight transfers, etc.

GT5P physics aren't that impressive IMO. But yeah, with GT5 and Forza 3 comming along, i don't see much of a point in buying this one. Especially since i always thought that "supercars" were the least fun cars to drive.

Quote from jibber :

GT5P physics aren't that impressive IMO.

Yea, they certainly aren't LFS, especially as you still can't roll the cars over, and that is hampering other aspects of car behaviour aswell. But i would like to try this game if there will be a demo, and compare it with GT5, but i certainly won't buy it blindly..

FC does feel more realistic physics wise than GT5p, IMO, but then again, GT5p's physics are weird, some of the cars feel very "fudged", it seems like there isn't a "global" physics system in GT5p, because some of the cars act odd when compared to a different car, its almost like each car has a physics layer of its own.

I was going to try and get in the SC "beta", but never got round to it, like has been said above, with both GT5 and Forza 3 around the corner, I can't see me getting SC, well, not untill it hits the bargain bin.

Only ever played Ferrari Challenge on the DS, so I can't really talk about that in terms of physics. I'm in the SC beta, and I'm assuming since it appears to be open now that I can actually talk about it.

I think it feels better to drive than GT5P, but I put that down to GT being set up more for wheels than joypads. The cars all behave in the way you expect, although I don't think there's quite enough kick when you floor the throttle even with the driving assists off (probably to fit the console crowd better).

Are the cars in the beta all FR layout? I don't think I saw MR and certainly no RR cars on there, so it's hard to say if there's much difference in terms of handling. They're believable without being too realistic, if that makes sense. Unlike games like Grid and Dirt, it actually feels like what I do with the pad relates to how the car behaves, but it's not so unforgivingly realistic that you need to practice for hours to get your laptimes down.

I'd like to support System 3 as a small developer, but the list of options than Forza and GT have interest me more. I still prefer lower-powered cars anyway

Quote from Boris Lozac :

Well Bob can tell us does it FEEL that good?

I could say a lot but can't given my position. I tried it with a wheel once but wasn't impressed, the tyre model isn't detailed enough to generate a truely real feeling, but it is a lot worse to drive with it off, and it does generally do the right things. Supercar Challenge uses the same physics and vehicle dynamics as used in Ferrari Challenge, although as a game it's much improved (else the last 12 months additional work it's had on top of Ferrari was for nothing).

If you expect something along the lines of a PC sim, you'll be vastly disappointed (although that's not to imply it's arcade, just it is simply not at the level us hardcore simmers have come to expect from LFS, iRacing, et al). For a console semi-sim racer it seems reasonable but I've never really tried the competition so perhaps you shouldn't read too much into that. It's not the sort of game I'd really want to get into, it's just not realistic or hardcore enough, yet it's probably too realistic for your typical console racing fan.

The next racing title we release should include all the improvements I've been making since I started, so should hopefully knock the realism up a fair notch, assuming I get a chance to do everything I want to do with the engine.

In short, it should be a better buy than Ferrari. If you bought that then the decision to buy this as well is a bit harder to make.