While they may not be wholly original, Asphalt 3D's events are plentiful, most are entertaining and they successfully inject a bit of variety into the overall experience.

There's also a high-speed police chase mode (think Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit), which sees players attempt to outrun the cops without crashing. Events range from bog standard races, time trials and one-on-one duels, to slightly more interesting race types such as 'Leader Of The Pack', a survival-based, elimination event (basically 'Eliminator' from Burnout) and Vigilante, which is all about smashing into the opposition and taking them out of the game. For most players the journey will begin with the career mode, which features more than a dozen leagues, each consisting of five events. There are 17 courses, 40 licensed supercars, numerous game modes and some interesting wireless features. On paper Asphalt 3D looks very promising. But will the arcade-style racer, which has drawn comparisons to Need For Speed and Burnout, benefit from a 3D makeover? Or is it just another one-dimensional street racing clone? With seven years of additional experience, a huge portfolio of handheld games and the extra horsepower that the Nintendo 3DS is able to provide, Gameloft has returned with a brand new and slightly more ambitious entry in the Asphalt racing series. With nine real-world courses and a heap of highly-charged supercars, it laid the foundation for what would become a solid series of portable racers for platforms such as the iPhone, PSP and even the ill-fated Nokia N-Gage.

Gameloft's Asphalt Urban GT was a half decent, albeit fairly ordinary and pedestrian launch title for the original DS.

Asphalt 2 3D ds