
Hey Enjoy Gaming! 1997 called and guess what? It wants its game back!
That’s right — Chevrolet Camaro Wild Ride 3D has finally landed on the 3DS eShop, and not only does it look like a game that was ported directly from the PlayStation, but also it’s pretty terrible to play, too. In fact, it’s downright offensive to even think about comparing this game to late nineties’ classics such as Gran Turismo and Top Gear Rally; those games were, after all, pretty superb for their time. What’s more, they hold up far better today than Chevrolet Camaro Wild Ride 3D — an impressive feat given that they were released over 15 years ago.
Lazy and uninspired efforts are an unfortunate occurrence on the 3DS eShop, and we've certainly come across our fair share of them in the past. However, Chevrolet Camaro Wild Ride 3D is among the worst. It would be unreasonable to expect that a mere 3DS eShop title could match the AAA quality of something like the Forza Motorsport series, but there are certain minimum standards you’d expect any developer to meet. In this instance, Chevrolet Camaro Wild Ride 3D holds the not-so-impressive accolade of being a title that’s just about functional and not a lot else.

In case you hadn’t already guessed, this is a racing game in which you supposedly race the titular vehicle around a series of tracks. We say supposedly because the model you use in-game is apparently a high-performance muscle car — you just wouldn’t think it is because it looks so ugly and moves so slowly.
Upon reaching the horrendous title screen you’re greeted with three different modes. The first is the career mode, which you can play through in order to unlock vehicles and tracks. There’s a free race mode, which allows you to use any vehicles or tracks you’ve unlocked in career mode, while time trial is pretty much what’d you expect. Sadly, none of these will ever hold your attention for more than a couple of minutes.
Despite covering all of the bases — except for local and online multiplayer — there’s practically no fun to be found in any part of Chevrolet Camaro Wild Ride 3D. This is essentially due to a number of fundamental flaws, the first of which is poor controls. It’s bad enough in any racing game when almost every turn you take can send your vehicle into a swerve. However, when the AI players in this game are also seen frequently careening off into a wall, you just know that something is wrong. It’s actually worth pointing out that the walls they so often crash into are actually invisible, and jut out a bit from the physical barrier you can actually see. This wouldn't be so much of a problem if it weren't for the fact that it makes overtaking an opponent much harder than it should be. The second issue is the game’s speed; despite the on-screen speedometer claiming that you’re travelling at speeds as high as 160 KM/H, it feels more like you’re going at about a quarter of that.

Track design is also poor. The long and winding routes never serve up anything that requires a modicum of skill, although this is likely due to the fact that the game plays so badly to begin with. In some instances, it’s possible to just hold down the acceleration button and let the walls guide you around the track.
To make matters worse, the visuals are absolutely atrocious. Poor draw distances, basic textures and low poly vehicles all combine to make a very unattractive package. Chevrolet Camaro Wild Ride 3D’s graphical misgivings could be forgiven if the gameplay was up to scratch or if the visuals were limited in order to improve performance, but this simply isn't the case here. In fact, your incredibly slow car appears even slower thanks to an often dire framerate. It truly is baffling that Chevrolet would authorise a game in which its vehicles are portrayed as slow, ugly and terrible when it comes to basic handling.
Conclusion
In a genre as competitive as racing, there’s simply no room for games as shoddy as Chevrolet Camaro Wild Ride 3D. It’s not that this game doesn’t do anything to make itself stand out from the crowd, but more the fact that it doesn’t even manage to get the basics right. The horrid visuals, wonky controls and extraordinarily dull gameplay all ensure that it's as lacking in entertainment value as seems possible; stay off this one's track.
Comments 24
Just as I thought. As soon as i saw the trailer, this game is doomed.
I mean the visuals are barely reaching DS levels.
V-Rally 2 was one of the best racing games off the PS1...
Looks kind of similar. Won't buy it,
Ugh, not even up to snuff with Nintendo 64 standards. Goes back to play Diddy Kong Racing and F-Zero X...
Man im glad you guys posted this I almost bought it. They were sneaky and changed the name of the game in the north american eshop to Race to the Line. But the Eshop rating shows 4 and half stars! YIKES! I trust this review more than that. it just doesn't look good and i'm a big fan of racing games. I'm glad I didn't download this Dud!
Was it just a coincidence you picked 1997? This game was awesome for it's time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JCGZFQZkdc
Hey Enjoy Gaming! Quit making games for 3DS, wouldja?
How did this even get a release on the e shop, was it made by 6 year olds. It is absolutely shocking to look at
With games like these, I really wish Nintendo had a quality-check of some kind. Just to throw out all the gross shovelware and rely more on good titles.
@rjejr That game reminds of Vigilante 8 on the N64. Man, that was so epic on multiplayer with friends.
Expected a "1" based on the first few sentences.
Eh. Close enough.
Why has more poor 3ds not received. A real racing sim since Ridge Racer and that's loosely based real racing sim.
@MegaWatts
Nice review.
Just forgot to mention that, for some weird reason, the american version of the game is called "Race to the Line", omitting any reference to Chevrolet or Camaro names, to the absurd where the black Camaro is simply called "Black Car". Guess Chevy didn't eant such a turd carrying the Camaro name on its home region...
When I watched the trailer for this, all I could think of was Test Drive 4 for the original Playstation. I mean, I enjoyed that game when it was released. But I certainly would not buy a new copy of it in 2013.
I was "lucky" enough to get a download code for this game, lucky because I didn't have to pay for this piece of garbage.
@Windy Nice find, I wouldn't have noticed the difference.
@DestinyMan It is still playable, I think that is the only reason it got a 2.
I actually like the graphics in this one...
In a "good DS graphics" way.
It looked tolerable. How fortunate that I didn't have any funds left after 3D Sonic to pick it up.
After playing the superb Need For Speed: Most Wanted for Wii U and Ridge Racer 3D for 3DS, it's really hard for me to return to mediocre racing game with this level of graphics and gameplay.
Not surprised.
Play invincicar, it's free and got upgrades!
@Spoony_Tech You should try Asphalt. Although not a real racing sim its my favorite racer on 3DS. better than Ridge Racer Asphalt has been as low as 6.99 on Amazon new
Another One (lame game review) Bites The Dust!
Man, the 3DS needs a killer racing simulator. I know it has the potential.
So the person who reviewed the American version thinks very differently as they gave it a 6 out of 10 quite a massive difference in fact. Very curious indeed
Has the U.S version got improved graphics coz the reviewer says they are great in there review lol
@Knuckles_Claus How are you getting said codes? I want this game but don't want to pay for it since the review scores are lowish.
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...