Race Driver: GRID lines up for DS

Codemasters has just announced a DS version of its upcoming Race Driver: GRID will be released alongside home console and PC versions of the game this summer. (A PSP version has been confirmed as non-existent by the publisher.)

Promising pick-up-and-play controls, a complete racing package and stunning visuals, Race Driver: GRID will feature races from across three continents.

In Europe, circuits include Spa and the Nürburgring; in America you'll be able to race through the streets of San Francisco and Washington DS; while Japan will offer drift races through the neon-lit streets of Tokyo's Shibuya district.

The game also includes a range of ways to play, such as a huge Career mode with championship and race events, together with quick-fire Challenges, Time Trials, Speed Tests and Chase events.

Online and multiplayer options, meanwhile, enable up to four to compete for both first place and to try and top online leaderboards.

The previous DS game in the series, Race Driver: Create & Race, plugged a reality based driving game-sized gap in a market filled with kiddie kart games. And it did it very successfully, too, in no small part because of its comprehensive 'free draw' track editor.

Unsurprisingly, then, the track editor makes a return in Race Driver: GRID in an evolved form, with over 60 individual track pieces, near-limitless design options and even the ability to personalise trackside billboards. Your scribbled (or painstakingly designed) courses can then be uploaded for others to check out or raced on against friends in multiplayer.

As ever for the Race Driver series (previously known as TOCA), you should expect real licensed cars of all varieties to drive.

The game's in development by Firebrand Games, the studio also responsible for Create & Race. You can see more and register for updates at the official Race Driver site. In the meantime, we'll have more on the game as its summer release date races ever closer.