GT Advance Championship Racing GBA

Turn on the engine of your Gameboy Advance and rev it up ready for racing. You have a choice of competing in a Championship, running a Quick Race, or trying to beat best course times in a Time Attack. There are 32 different courses including circuit, highway, town, pass, and dirt tracks. Before you get going it's a good idea to start with a Practice round or two, to test drive some of the cars and get a feel for the controls. They're the obvious ones - arrows for direction, A to accelerate and B to brake.

After practicing, pick a car from the Garage - there are over 45 to choose from, made by manufacturers such as Toyota and Subaru. Performance characteristics like top speed, acceleration and handling, are listed for each car. After driving off the track on too many turns, I'd recommend one with a high rating on Handling. Color can also be selected, as can Automatic versus Manual Transmission.

Practiced enough? Then it's time to get going on the Championship Circuit. Start with Beginner's Class and, if you win that against the competing racers, try the next 3 levels, ending as a Pro. Winning Championship races gains prizes and car parts, for improved speed, grip and handling. Winning also gives access to a wider selection of cars and eventually unlocks two extra game modes. If a friend has the game, the two of you can play head-to-head on different courses using a Gamelink cable.

During a race, information is displayed on the number of laps, position and time. There is an overview of the track showing the position of all cars on it. You need to be careful not to bump into other cars, veer off the track or spin out, all of which slow you down. My 11 year-old son enjoyed GT Advance Championship Racing very much and won most of the Beginner races, but found the competition tough to beat on more winding tracks. He appreciated the crisp Advance graphics, the wide selection of cars and the incentives to win Championship races. Despite being a racing klutz, I also had fun, and would recommend this title to fans of racing games, 10 and up.