Need for Speed Carbon: Own The City

Download Need for Speed Carbon: Own The City and rule the streets in this high-octane racing experience! Build your crew, customize your rides, and conquer rival territories. Speed towards victory and play now!
a game by EA Games
Genre: Racing
Platform: GBA (2006)
Editor Rating: 7.5/10, based on 1 review
User Rating: 8.9/10 - 14 votes
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See also: Car Games, Need For Speed Series
Need for Speed Carbon: Own The City
Need for Speed Carbon: Own The City
Need for Speed Carbon: Own The City

Need for Speed Carbon: Own The City is what happens when the series leaves console and sets up shop on the Game Boy Advance. This is actually the fifth Need for Speed game to hit the GBA and it is far, far better than many people give it credit for.

Who Am I?

One of the most surprising things about Need for Speed Carbon: Own The City is that it has a pretty deep story. You wake up in hospital after being in a bad car crash. You do not know who you are, what happened and all you know is that your brother is dead. This leads you on a high-octane quest to learn about yourself, take over the city and find out what happened when your brother died. It is over the top and cheesy, but it actually works very well. Taking over territories and “owning the city” is the ultimate goal of the game.

Meet My Friends

The actual racing action in Need for Speed Carbon: Own The City is rather interesting in that it walks the line between being a sim and arcade-style racing game. In all honesty, I feel that they should have gone all arcade as that would have suited the style of the game better. The racing is not bad or anything like that, but it does take a short while to get the hang of.

The biggest new addition to the gameplay is your wingmen. You have friends that you meet in the story and you can use these friends to help you out as you race. The main console versions of the game have the same kind of mechanic and it is interesting to use. You have offensive wingmen; you call one of these guys in and they will flat out crash into your opponent. You also have other wingmen or will help in a different way such as aiding you with a speed boost. I found this to fit with the tone and style of the game and also be a mechanic that was actually very useful.

Wow You Look Good

It is quite impressive how good the game looks considering it is on the GBA. The cars are all officially licensed and I think they did a great job here. The cars are not full of tiny little details, but you can certainly tell what is what. I feel the most impressive aspect of the presentation of the game is actually its speed. They have managed to keep the game at a blistering pace and I never once noticed any slowdown or anything weird happening with the graphics.

Overall, I think that Need for Speed Carbon: Own The City for the Gameboy Advance is a pretty solid portable racing game. Of course, when put next to its console big brother it is lacking in the presentation and features department. However, I had a great deal of fun with this and once you get the hang of the way that the cars handle, you will probably want to play through the entire campaign.

7.5/10

Pros:

  • The story is kind of fun
  • I like the way that the wingmen mechanic works
  • Lots of cars and tracks
  • The presentation is really solid
  • The game is very fast

Cons:

  • The handling does take a while to get used to
  • The soundtrack can get a little old

Download Need for Speed Carbon: Own The City

GBA

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP

Snapshots and Media

GBA Screenshots

See Also

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