Ghost racer

Trackmania Nations is the first Trackmania title i’ve tried out (because hey, it’s free). It’s really made me want to check out Trackmania Sunrise. The graphics are clean, the sense of weight is solid, and for some weird reason the try-and-try-and-try-again gameplay somehow works. It’s frustrating at times, but since you’re always racing against a ghost of your previous best race, it somehow feels less frustrating and more like a true challenge of honor.

Trackmania challenges our ability to be consistently good, to master something. If racing little cars on bizarre stunt tracks is a bit banal, the sense of finally mastering a track is exceptional.

Highly highly recommended.