Need for Speed: Carbon

Need for Speed: Carbon introduced nighttime canyon duels into the series, tracking the opponent's racing line through the turns of guardrail-less mountain roads, along with a territorial system for controlling city districts that gradually unlocked new shops and rivals, with the city divided into canyon, drift, and circuit areas each with its own driving style. The player could also assemble a crew of teammates with their own abilities to help during races and police chases, where one crewmate would block rivals and another would draw off police patrols. The bodywork editor for adjusting the look and performance of cars remained part of this version as well.

The Wii version was among the console's launch titles from November 2006 and, as one of the few, adapted the controls to the movements of the Wii Remote – steering the car by tilting the controller replaced the classic sticks and buttons, while the gas and brake stayed on buttons, making cornering in canyon duels a noticeably different, more physical experience than on the other platforms controlled with a classic gamepad. Because of the Wii's performance, closer to the previous console generation, the game had to sacrifice some graphical quality: simpler textures, sparser traffic, poorer lighting settings for the nighttime city, and less detailed vehicle damage than on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3.

Content-wise, the port stayed faithful to the original, with the same canyon duels, the same territorial system, and the same list of cars; the main difference was thus in the adapted motion controls, the visibly more modest graphics, and a simpler bodywork damage model after collisions with guardrails or oncoming cars, though the color and vinyl editor remained intact in the game. For Wii owners who wanted to play a racing game with a new kind of control, it was nonetheless an interesting alternative to the traditional gamepad of the other versions, albeit at the cost of a simpler visual style and less precision in the tight turns of canyon duels.

Why play it: For Wii owners who wanted to try racing with motion controls, it's an interesting alternative to the other console versions, albeit with simpler graphics and less precise steering through the turns.