TrackMania United Forever
This fantastic racing game from Ascaron Entertainment and Nadeo makes for a fast paced multi track racing that has plenty of gameplay features and even your own track editor.
Ratings: Graphics & Audio: 22/25, Gameplay: 22/25, Creativity 24/25, Fun 22/25
Total: 90/100
TrackMania United Forever is the fast paced race sim with plenty of tracks and customization available using the track editor. You have a wide variety of track types and about the only thing you don’t get with TrackMania is the ability to knock around the other drivers.
I really am a kid at heart and the days of playing with my Hot Wheels tracks and cars is not long in my past, but this game reminded me so much of that and the pure enjoyment of being able to race on those tracks. TrackMania takes those click together tracks and goes the one step further onto the computer with track designs that look just like what I had imagined when building my own tracks.
You can start your racing fun using the wide variety of unlockable tracks in the solo play on four basic game types called Race, Platform, Stunts and Puzzle. In Race mode it has a basic unlock system with several different types of cars and race track types and you must place in the top of the rankings to unlock the next race of that world type. There is a desert, arena, snow and island world scheme but the track surfaces are a standard concrete, metal or dirt for the various racing types.
In the main menu you have a world and nation choice as well as solo play and multiplayer but what it all really boils down to is one of four cool ways to play in single player and playing online against others either on tracks others have created or ones that the game has built in.
Playing the multiplayer is an easy description as it plays well and without much fuss to get into a race game. You can choose your nation or world as well as your state in the United States to join a server. Once on a server you pretty much start the race in a minute or two, it may take up to three or four but it is usually quick as the games only last up to five minutes.
For multiplayer races you start off on the track at the single position starting gate and have no other cars that you see. When the timer starts and you can go, green light, you will see other cars as ghost images and often have them appear and disappear as the track and their position interfere with your view. Once you see this it is easily ignored and has no effect on your racing as a distraction, its just a bit weird to have all the cars piled on top of each other at the start position.
