Like most racing games, the premise is simple: drive around the track and get into first place to win! If nothing else, at least it can be argued that GTS gives you plenty of ways to accomplish this goal. There are 4 modes of play in GTS. Single Race allows you to select any one of the 64 tracks for your driving pleasure. Challenge Cup has you racing all 16 tracks that correspond with the difficulty level that you choose. Grand Tour sees you going through all 64 races, and Championship has you traveling through 16 races, gathering points to come out ahead in the end and win the cup. Championship even has you qualifying before each race to determine your starting spot in that race. I should also probably point out that there are 3 different types of cars to choose from, and unlike many games in this genre, you can definitely tell differences in how each one handles.

With all this racing available, you certainly shouldn't get bored. That's assuming, of course, you don't make the same mistake I did and approach GTS with false expectations. This is not K-Rally with 3rd person, 3D graphics. There are no missiles, oil slicks, or other traps to thwart other players. In fact, you can't even die in this game. You simply race around the track until you've completed the required number of laps. In the single race, you're done. If you're playing Challenge Cup or Grand Tour and you place in the top X positions, which is different depending on the difficulty level you select, then you move on to the next race. If not, then the game is over. Finally, in Championship mode you get to compete in all 16 races at the selected difficulty level, and in the end your rank is based on total number of points scored for placing in each race.

When I first started playing GTS I have to admit I was a bit bored. I tend to fancy the racing games that are more like K-Rally, or at least like Wild Gears where there are obstacles in the track (or where you can even fall off the track). As a result, it was a bit hard for me to get into GTS, other than the fact that I needed to play it in order to review it. A funny thing happened on the way to the review, however. As I played the game more, I found that it was harder for me not to play it. I would set my device down to go do something, and when I'd pick it back up, instead of quitting the game I'd find myself playing "just one more race". It's still not the kind of game I'd sit and play for hours on end, but for me what I described is pretty addictive where racing games are concerned.

That's not to say the game doesn't have its faults, however. I fought a lot with the controls being either too sensitive or not sensitive enough (there is a setting you can adjust for that). This seemed to be more of a problem on my phone than on my ancient PocketPC device. Also on my phone, because of the configuration of the hardware, I had to set the auto-accelerate to on. It was just too hard to keep the button pressed and try and steer at the same time. The drivers tended to be of the "a little bit too prefect" variety, which would have been better if you weren't penalized so much for driving off the side of the track. If you were off the track for more than a second it wasn't uncommon for one or more drivers to pass you with ease. On Extreme mode this might make sense, but not on Easy mode. Also, because of the simplistic nature of the game, the only real challenge in the game came in the form of more turns in the track. This sometimes gets to be a little old when it's the only way to add perceived difficulty to a track.

The graphics are pretty amazing, especially since I'm still running 240x320 devices. The 3D looks nice for the most part, though the trees appear to be a bit flat. The rest of the backdrops as well as the cars are nicely detailed, however. The only thing that seems a bit lacking is the amount of scenery. I suppose it's because of the type of racing, but the lack of ornaments gives the tracks an isolationist feel. Some people or animals or something going on in the background would be a nice touch.

The audio, on the other hand, is atrocious. The sound effects are mostly comprised of the roar of your engine, which gets old really quick, and the somewhat chalkboard squeak like sound your tires make when taking curves at high speed. To add to the misery, there is no music whatsoever. I understand that when developers target multiple device types they often go for the lowest common denominator, but there are times when they really should add features for the devices that can handle it, and this is one of those cases. Sure I can mute the sound and listen to my own tunes, but the game should really provide these accoutrements for me.

If you're not a fan of the 3rd person racing genre, GTS: World Racing probably isn't going to change your mind. If you're on the fringe like I am, and can tweak the controls to your liking, you might just find a mild addiction here. If you already have a place for this type of game in your heart, GTS: World Racing is definitely one to add to your collection. Just make sure you have your own jukebox handy!

Overall Score: 7/10
Product Page: GTS: World Racing page
You can try or buy the game for $19.95 here

• Note: The devices used for this review were a Dell Axim X5 running WM2003, and a Verizon XV6700 running WM6