Race Driver : GRID

Race Driver: GRID for Nintendo DS is a 2008 racing game developed by Firebrand Games and published by Codemasters. Released in North America as GRID and in Europe as Race Driver: GRID, it is a handheld companion to Codemasters' wider racing series rather than a direct copy of the console and PC editions. The DS game puts licensed performance cars on circuits and road courses across Europe, the United States, and Japan, combining structured championships with quick competitive events. It also follows Firebrand's earlier Nintendo DS racer Race Driver: Create & Race, carrying that game's emphasis on building and sharing courses into a new globe-spanning career.

Career mode provides the central route through the game. Players enter events in the three racing regions, work toward medals, and aim to rise through the rankings as a driver. The selection is not limited to conventional circuit races: time trials test a clean lap against the clock, while speed tests and chase events give individual races different goals. Drift events add another challenge in which controlled slides matter alongside finishing position. This assortment lets the game move between short standalone challenges and longer championship-style play without losing its focus on car handling and track knowledge.

The Nintendo DS edition includes 25 cars and 20 circuits, with locations ranging from city streets to established-style racing venues. Its setting is defined by travel between the game's European, American, and Japanese events rather than a story or cast of fictional characters. Cars such as the Aston Martin DBR9 and Dodge Viper represent the high-performance machinery at the center of the experience. Players choose a car and course for faster races outside the career, then learn braking points, corners, and the quickest line around each layout as they compete for better results.

A major feature is the Track Editor, which uses the Nintendo DS Touch Screen to create custom circuits. Players can lay out a course with a free-draw approach or assemble it from track pieces, then alter details including the terrain and roadside billboard images. The editor makes the game more than a fixed set of built-in events: a finished creation can be driven like the supplied tracks, encouraging experimentation with fast layouts, tight bends, and unusual course designs. This creative side is especially important to the DS version and reflects its connection to Race Driver: Create & Race.

Race Driver: GRID also supports multiplayer racing for up to four players. With multiple game cards, players can compete in several modes, while single-card play offers a three-race championship. At release, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection support allowed drivers to race opponents online, including on player-made tracks, and to download circuits created by other players. Those options complemented the local multiplayer modes by giving the track editor a way to extend beyond one DS system.

As an entry in the early GRID line, Race Driver: GRID presents Codemasters' racing identity in a form designed specifically for Nintendo's dual-screen handheld. Firebrand Games adapted the series with its own 3D presentation, interface, event structure, car customization, and course-building tools instead of simply reproducing the larger-platform game. For Nintendo DS players, the result is a racing package built around career progression, varied driving challenges, four-player competition, and the lasting appeal of designing a personal track before taking it to the starting grid.