Trackmania Turbo Review

Three words best describe Trackmania Turbo for PS4— over the top. Everything in this game seems to follow the “bigger is better” mantra, with a little crazy thrown in. It’s an intuitive game with easy controls, but it takes some time and skill to master the high-speed insanity of the racing. This is an arcade-style racing game, designed for modern consoles like the PS4, although it is also available for PC.

Jumping Right In

You start the first race with a shocking drop from a helicopter right onto a nearly 90-degree ramp. From that moment, the game keeps you on the edge of your seat. During a race, you may feel as if you are always on the verge of losing control; the off-road buggies and racers seem almost too powerful for you to handle. However, they are wonderfully responsive and fun to drive.

Playing on Your Own

There’s a single-player mode, a campaign in which you take on 200 different tracks. You’re not really racing against other players in this mode; instead, you’re trying to beat the clock. Your job is to complete each track as fast as possible. To make it more interesting, you have one nemesis, a ghost car that you have to beat in order to achieve the fastest time. Once you complete a track, your best time becomes a second ghost car, so you can race against the computer’s ghost car and your own “best time” car. It’s a unique twist, and it makes the game unbelievably addictive to play.

If you’re playing on your own, you can hit “reset” anytime you like to start the race over again. That way, if you make a mistake that puts your best time out of reach, you can easily restart and try to do better.

Joining Up with Your Friends

You’ve also got a selection of multiplayer modes that are sure to give you and your friends hours of fun. Grab three of your pals or family members and play in four-player split-screen mode. Want to expand the potential for fun? Try arcade mode, in which up to ten people can play sequentially, tournament-style. There’s also a “hot seat” challenge, a “double driver” mode, and some other special modes that you’ll unlock gradually as you play the game.

Entering an Online Race

Ready for an online challenge? Try the online racing mode. Up to 100 other racers can play together at the same time, all trying to achieve the fastest possible time on a particular track. It’s a crazy melee of ghost cars, with each one controlled by a real player. Throughout the 5-minute race, the rankings are updated, and at the end, the final rankings are displayed.

Building Your Own Tracks

If you need a break from the heart-pounding action, go over to the track-builder section of the game. Here, you can design your own tracks, with loops, drops, jumps, and all sorts of other features. Save the tracks, share them with friends, and create your own challenges to make each track more exciting and competitive. The track-builder interface is very easy to use, and it adds a whole new dimension to Trackmania Turbo.

Have you tried Trackmania Turbo? Tell us about your favourite mode or track in the comments.