When I was asked to review Pimp My Ride: Street Racing, I wasn't too sure what to expect from the title.

To the best of my knowledge, Pimp My Ride is a TV show which features Tim Westwood (or Xzibit, depending on its location) and a bunch of mechanics taking old bangers and upgrading them with ridiculous new specs. Aside from the obvious engine treatments that you'd expect, these new additions can include DVD players, electric guitars and even an electric fireplace.

So when I inserted the Pimp My Ride: Street Racing cart into my DS, I was half expecting to be greeted by Tim Westwood advising me that my car is “well passed its sell by date and needs a bit of blingin' up”. Instead, what I got was quite different.

Essentially, Pimp My Ride: Street Racing is a racing game with 2 different modes – quick race and career mode.

Quick race is exactly what it says on the tin, so I wont bother going into too much detail about that, but career mode is a bit more involved.

With career mode, the whole point of the game is to win races to earn 'scrilla' – which I guess is some sort of street word for 'money' (for the sake of my own street cred, I am just going to keep calling it money from now on) . With the money you earn you are given the option to upgrade your car (or purchase a completely new one). The upgrades available to you include new wheels, rims, paint jobs, engine upgrades and bizarrely enough, sirens and bull horns. Oddly enough the more outrageous your upgrades are, the higher your pimping level is.

Graphically, the game is quite strong for the DS and the track design is particularly impressive. There are a number of hidden shortcuts which can make or break your chances of winning a race. There are a few landmarks scattered around on various tracks, such as the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben. However, some of these landmarks are placed in questionable locations, as last time I checked you can't actually drive underneath the Eiffel Tower in real life.

The developers have also thrown in a few different objectives to give the races a slight hint of variety. For example, if you complete a race without crashing you are awarded more money. There are also a few elimination races thrown in, where the car in the last position of each lap is eliminated. The AI of the other racers is also worth a mention, as they will try to cut you up and do their best to distract you, making none of these challenges a walk in the park.

The sound effects, such as the engines and breaking, do their job adequately and the hip hop-inspired music is pretty good too, if a little repetitive at times.

The controls are quite simple - to accelerate you press the “A” button and to use the handbreak you need to press the “Y” button (these controls are also replicated on the DS shoulder buttons). The game has no use for touch screen controls, so the stylus isn't required.

One major disappointment with this game is the fact that it has no multiplayer value, which feels like a missed opportunity considering the style of the game.

Overall, Pimp My Ride: Street Racing is quite an enjoyable title. Whilst it is nothing amazing and doesn't offer anything new to the genre or racing games, it does have a nice “pick up and play” quality to it. The lack of any celebrity endorsement (Westwood or Xzibit) is noticeable, but whether they are missed or not is up for debate.

Verdict: 7 out of 10

The Good:
Good track design
Easy controls

The Bad
No multiplayer

Have you played Pimp My Ride: Street Racing on the Ds? What did you think? Leave a comment below.