The actual driving is very arcadey. In a game where three to four sequential loop the loops is the norm this is what you would expect and the driving model is both forgiving enough to allow the novice to enjoy their time learning the ropes, and tight enough to give the more experienced player something to aim for as they try to perfect their driving lines and jump skills. Each car behaves rather differently and while drifting and bouncy suspension are the order of the day the different cars will require some slight tweaking to your driving to ensure a respectable time come the finish line. The tracks themselves are quite narrow, and while there are guardrails to keep you in place you will often find yourself sailing gracefully (or shambolicaly), over these and away off into the sun-kissed horizon. This game is very particular about its angles. Get them wrong on straights and you will slip and slide all over the road as you try to correct, get them wrong on the approach to a jump or some other insane obstacle and you will be punished and need to whack the return key to return to the last checkpoint. These checkpoints are essential to your progress, miss one and you will have a tough time getting back into the groove. If you are foolish enough not to whack that return key and give it another attempt. On some of the courses you will be cruising off-road so finding the checkpoints can get rather tricky, but the vast majority of the included courses are laid out well enough that you will rarely get lost. The driving itself reminds me of Micro Machines as it is all about tapping keys for adjustment and keeping your finger on the accelerator for as long as you dare. You are best taking corners on two wheels for added zip through the turn. Realistic this ain't, but easy to play and hard to master just like any good game it is.

The puzzle section in the game forms the second of your three single player options. Here you will once again go through the different terrains and have to race against the clock to collect medals. This time however you will often have to go in and modify the track. This starts off nice and gentle and eases you into the concepts behind designing a playable course. At first you will just have to place the occasional piece of track to make a viable course but soon you will be placing dozens of pieces with the goal of creating the fastest track so as to beat those elusive gold medal scores. Once again the first few levels are easy enough to breeze right through but you will have to go back and rack up some impressive times to get the necessary medal points to progress to the more advanced courses. The puzzles can be quite challenging and their inclusion in the game helps to provide some variety in what is otherwise a rather one-dimensional racer. All in, trying to complete all the races and all the puzzles will take you many hours and provide some solid entertainment. As long as you don't get bored by the fact that each race is differentiated only by its course.

You see there is no real opposition. Sure you race against other drivers but as there is no collision modelling you may as well be against a number for in effect the clock is all that counts. While you will find yourself racing on tracks that even Geoff Crammond would never have dreamed of, the basic racing is always the same. In a lesser game this would have become very boring too quickly but here in the sheer variety of the courses will provide enough new driving challenges to keep you amused. It is just a shame that there is no hint of any career, just a chain of races and puzzles to race through. And then you try the multiplayer.