Real Talk By: KJ

Here is a title we’ve been excited about since the E3 2015 trailer.  A breath of fresh air considering realistic racers have dominated lately.  Yes the arcade side of things was starting to feel neglected.  Here is where Trackmania Turbo comes in.  Super-colorful worlds, loud vehicles, and insane loopty loops.  All of this with new-gen graphics.  Let’s see if the finished project holds up.

TMT boasts a track count of 200 on-disk (or digital) across four areas, each with special stage arrangements.  Different areas cater to specific cars.  Players wont be able to select their vehicle.  Maybe this was done to keep the leaderboards balanced, with everyone using the same ride on any-given track.  Vehicles are specially fitted for the environment selected.  Formula One types pit players on smoother/wider roads, with big turn opportunities.  Dirt Racing levels get awesome Buggies, with plenty of lumps in the road.

It isn’t too-bad grabbing a Bronze or the occasional Silver Medal.  Gold is tough, no mistakes.  Single player is ghost racing.  Screw up, and watch as the competitor zooms off with your medal.  As you can imagine, the tracks get more complex.  Skills will be tested.  Reflexes, drifting abilities as well.  Hitting ramps is great, but challenging also.  Most games will allow players to punch-it across a ramp, with no punishment at all upon landing.  In this title, giving a jump all the gas will likely cause an embarrassing wipeout.  So keeping control of the vehicle, while steering through these outlandish raceways is the goal.  Basic steering does feel a bit loose, tighter handling overall would have made things easier.  It’s a bit too easy to lose control.  With even the slightest mistake making a huge difference from Silver and Gold, this cannot go unnoticed.  At least you can hit a button to restart immediately.  Fans of the Trials series will feel right at home.

Just when you thought TMT couldn’t get any more difficult, the people at Nadeo put in a Two Player Double Driver mode.  That’s right you and a friend controlling the car at the same time.  It is possible to play through the entire career mode this way.  More of a novelty feature.  We leaned more toward the split screen modes.  Four player is here.  Modes where players take turns besting times, or split screen even.  In 2016 people, That’s a big deal.

Players can jump online and race with 100 at the same time.  Everyone is transparent.  Guessing it would have been far too chaotic racing the normal way.  Still this is a cool feature to have.  Didn’t experience any lag at all, just a lot of wipeouts.  Another feature is the ability to customize and share tracks.  Some of the user-made stages can be quite impressive.  Making your own is easy.  You can auto generate stages too.  This can lead to some hilarious results with levels having no clear destination.  This feature alone adds more life to the gameplay, along with the 200 pre-made levels, gamers are good to go.

Graphics are clean, with a variety of color palettes adding life to areas.  Props in the environment are well-placed.  The art direction is nice overall, with some crazy paint templates available for the rides.  Some of the decals I would personally wear if they were ever made into shirt designs.

Here is an arcade racer through and through.  The whole experience feels like a throwback, but a good-looking one.  Priced at an affordable $39.99, Trackmania Turbo will serve multiple needs.  Diehard Fans who love leaderboard chasing, running through challenging areas, You’re covered.  Even the most casual racing fan will be at home with its simple mechanics.  Plenty of party fun to be had here on the couch or online.

Trackmania Turbo Gets

4 Out of 5

 

What’s Legit?

+Inventive Track Designs

+Classic Multiplayer Feel

What’s Perpetrating?

-More Car Choices

-Basic Steering Feels Too Loose

#Trackmania @PlayLegit