New International Track & Field Review

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In single-player mode, the game's 24 different events are arranged into sets of four-event challenges. As you progress through the game, challenges will pop up that allow you to unlock various classic Konami characters, ranging from the obvious - Solid Snake and Castlevania's Simon Belmont - through to the more obscure, such as Rocket Knight Adventures' Sparkster and Rumble Roses' Evil Rose. Then there's the outright weird - an absolutely brilliant super-deformed version of Silent Hill's Pyramid Head, which is possibly the best thing we've ever seen.

As with any Track & Field game, however, the single-player is ultimately something of a hollow experience. It'll certainly keep you going, thanks to the rewards for progress - great unlockable characters beat virtual art galleries any day of the week - but the true strength of the game lies in its multiplayer modes.

On this front, Sumo Digital has done a remarkable job. The game naturally supports local download play, while for those with multiple carts to hand, you can bet on the outcome of events and earn persistent scores in your own copy of the game. Local multiplayer games turn into a furious assault of screen-scrubbing, complaints over sore arms, and naturally, filthy underhand tactics.

But it's the online mode that's remarkable. This is the best online functionality we've ever seen in a DS game. You get a friends list, which is populated with people whose friend codes you have received. You also get a rivals list, which is full of people you've played online but haven't received friends codes from. You can't send messages or communicate with those people, but you can play against them - and better again, you can receive updates whenever they break any of your records.

For cycling, you need to keep that orange block with you, or your feet slip off the pedals. It's surprisingly skilful.

This update system is a key part of the game, which unlike every other DS game we've played, leaves you signed in to the network even when you're playing single-player events. This allows you to receive notification of broken records, challenges to play matches or even just taunting messages from friends at any time - a bit like how Xbox Live works. It's a new high water mark for online modes in DS titles, and we'll be hugely disappointed if other developers don't learn from it.

The biggest criticism of New International Track & Field is, in the end, going to be the same as the biggest criticism of its illustrious ancestor - it's very simple, almost to the point of being very dumb. That's an entirely valid criticism, but it's not one which, we think, will hold true for fans of the genre. The single-player mode probably won't hold your attention for long - once you've unlocked the Konami characters, your interest will seriously wane - but as a game to play with friends, and as a great online competitive experience, New International Track & Field ticks all the relevant boxes.