Gripshift, having been on both the PSP and PS3 before finally coming to the 360’s Xbox Live Arcade, is a simple, but passable racing experience. In Gripshift, you’ll be guiding a cast of cars through a plethora of solid tracks. The best part about the gameplay is that you have three different objectives to think about—getting to the end in the quickest possible time; gathering stars and finishing in the quickest time; and finally, gathering a “GS” (Gripshift) symbol and finishing in the fastest time. It doesn’t scream off variety on paper, but each track has their own idiosyncrasies that keep things relatively fresh.
In that sense, then, Gripshift seems to be a pretty good title—and it is in a lot of ways. However, the one real complaint that I had with the game was that the driving was sub-standard. I didn’t feel like I was having complete control over the vehicle, and the responsiveness felt off to me. Because of this, the game gets by on its good tracks and multiple objectives to be found on those tracks. The addition of online leaderboards add a lot to the game, as I found myself replaying tracks over and over again just to shade off hundredths of seconds on my race time.
If you’re looking for a racing title on the Arcade, Gripshift does a passable job doing it. You can have some fun with the different objectives, moving up the leaderboards and gathering all the collectables. Just be warned that there are probably better places to spend $10.
