Given the fact that I bemoan the lack of a great number of racing games being available on the system, I can appreciate that whenever new ones show up I should at least be somewhat grateful. That said, you could argue that based on its implementation that Nitro City Racing is as much of an action game as a racer. Considering you’ll just be weaving through traffic on a straight road without any turns or other elements, maybe it isn’t really worth rolling the red carpet out for. That isn’t to say it doesn’t have some merits though, even if a lack of variety may ultimately make it easy to put down pretty quickly in the end.

In some ways this taps into my old arcade memories of much simpler times, playing the likes of a game like the classic Turbo. Sure, here you’re in a first-person perspective rather than top-down, but it’s similar in the fact that your only ultimate focus is on driving on a straight road while trying not to hit anyone. Sure, you’ll have a variety of objectives included, whether trying to reach a certain distance in a given amount of time, accumulate some number of near-misses, or some other pretty simple variation on ideas in that vein. Still, for the most part no matter what your objective you’re likely to find yourself driving very similarly regardless, weaving through traffic and trying to push your limits in order to break up what otherwise could be monotony.

In terms of its downsides, there’s no getting away from the fact that there’s simply a lack of complexity here that makes almost every driving segment feel very similar, just in different cars or with different attributes. There’s no doubt that as you upgrade your ride that it can all get pretty fast and intense, and that’s appreciated, but there’s also only so far that can take you. Weirdly enough, outside of buying new cars and giving them more power, you’re also able to cosmetically customize your ride a bit, but outside of each car having its own interior look and general feel, you actually won’t be able to see the majority of cosmetic upgrades you make. That ultimately makes for a pretty bland experience you can only really get so much out of, even if it may be enjoyable enough if it offers everything you’re looking for in a quick pick up and put down racer.