Developed by Nadeo and published by Ubisoft, Trackmania Turbo is a time trial racing game with competitive leaderboards. The object of the game is get the lowest time possible and score medals. The are 160 tracks with 4 vehicles that have different handlings. The tracks are very diverse and contains jumps, loops, water, and other hazards. The handling of the cars feel distinct and fluid. It might prove too arcadey or loose for sim racers, but it's appropriate considering all of the obstacles on the course. You need to have tight control of the sensitive steering, and get used to feathering the throttle to retain traction. The brake is used, albeit not too often for experts. There's also a quick restart and checkpoint button for convenience. There's a local co-op mode where two players can control the gas and the steering. Why didn't anyone else think of this?

The game looks impressive and has a nice varied soundtrack that plays a new tune each restart, which keeps retries fresh. There's also a good sense of speed. The leaderboard aspects are impressive, and it's addictive to climb the ranks in your county or state, you can even choose which region you'd like to be in. Whether it's Pennsylvania or China. The difficulty curve comes with the length and complexity of the tracks, so the earlier tracks are naturally shorter and simpler, but they become exceptionally challenging later on, especially if you're going for a gold or green medal. And you need a lot of gold to see the final levels. There's online challenges happening all of the time, and it's fun to take part in live time trial events. Two player split screen and hot seat modes are available to round out the fun. There's also a custom track builder, which works but could have been streamlined a little better. Overall Trackmania Turbo is an exceptional Time Trial Game, with a tough performance threshold that'll attribute to some early retirements. UPDATE: VR mode added and it's awesome. A-