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Platform Filters:   All Platforms  Xbox   GameCube   PlayStation 2   PC   Game Boy Advance   Site Sections:   Updates  News   Games   Publishers   Developers   Reviews   Previews   Release Dates   Editorials   Glossary   Contact Us		Review:       21st July 2004: Trackmania: Power Up  Rev up and slip into gear as the Trackmania gains a Power Up. Posted by Chris Snook - PC - UK and Europe There are some gems out there that for whatever reason seem to pass some people by. The original Trackmania was one of those. Luckily an up-rated and upgraded version has been launched through the air onto the shelves. Trackmania: Power Up does exactly what it says. With new track elements smoothed graphics and tweaked gameplay. The basic premise is simple, race solo against the computer Ai and try to gain the fastest track time you can on some of the most insane tracks you are likely to see this side of, well, a crazed formula one addict. Jumps, bumps, speed boosts, barriers, ice, desert, underground and other manic sections make TM:PU a delight to play. Indeed it is one of the most addictive racing style games about. You almost feel compelled to try and complete the next track, the next puzzle, to get that once stage further than the last in survival mode. All despite to occasionally frustrating level designs that you have to zoom around over three different track environments, with fifty or so of these levels there is plenty to come back to. Solo play provides you three different modes, the familiar time trial where you just simply try to set the best time you can on the tracks. Puzzle mode gives you a limited number of block to build a track from to solve the puzzle of what route to use to get from start to finish and Survival Mode. Where 'all' you have to do is race around the tracks presented, one after the other for as many tracks you can. Not as easy as it sounds. You will be pressing the delete key to restart a heck of a lot of times. Multiplayer mode offers the chance for a bunch of friends to compete on the same machine to see who is the best. You can either create the track or load a reset one in and either race or modify the track. The slowest keeps trying until they are no longer such. Simple fun that will appeal to families as well as the bigger gaming groups. In addition TM:PU also has LAN and Internet play available, registration for the Internet was simple and very straightforward, placing you almost straight away onto the servers once the key was accepted. Unfortunately of the three servers available, only one - the medium difficulty server - had any population at the times visited. Graphics are crisp and smooth. They flow well and whilst more functional than spangle they are what the game needs, anything too flashy would have detracted. That is not to say that there are no neat touches. Bonnets and doors open if you fling the vehicles too hard around a corner, spot effects are also there such as skid marks, puffs of dust or ice and leaves. The only place where this falls down is the menu system which is too Spartan and too functional. Sound wise things are much as you would expect. Engine sounds are about right as do the crash and breaking sounds, though they are more cartoony than realistic. Spot effects such as the countdown and the starter gun also add into the audio mix. Music is engaging but can be tuned out, it adds to the game but can seem to be surplus as you carom around the tracks bouncing like a billiard ball. The controls are responsive, too responsive at times and the cars can roll around like 2CV's on a roundabout. Alarmingly so at times as you try to take a corner at high speed and then once again roll over the edge of the track and plummet to the floor below. I suspect this is deliberate to add to the challenge and after a while you do get used to such responsiveness. Also each type of vehicle, reacts differently, this is slight but noticeable as you try to make that turn. The tracks are also well thought out and will provide a progressive challenge - even to the seasoned joystick jockey, implicit in each design is the solution of how to complete them, though often this is hidden away. There is oodles of replay potential here. There is something that does attract you back, despite the inevitable point when it will become samey and repetitive. The editor will help extend this as you perform a Tony Hawkes and create the most fiendish track designs that you can manage as you set up more and more difficult challenges on family and friends. With the fifty levels and various styles of play there is a lot here, certainly when you realise there are four times per track to beat. Trackmania: Power Up is a great diversion with a seriously addictive streak to it that will claim a few sleepless nights. There are flaws, some will be put off by the concept and the uncomplicated graphics and gameplay. A solidly devised an implemented game that does what it set out to do, nothing more nothing less. Chris Snook             Latest Images:		Review Scores:    Graphics:   Sound:   Gameplay:   Length:   Overall: Click here for our Review Score Guidelines.  Review Summary:  Slickly thought out hybrid puzzler/racing game. Large in scope with an addictive quality built into the gameplay that will bring most back for more, time after time.. Some may be disappointed by the simple graphics. Sensitive controls and the basic style of play. One to look out for non the less.  Related Games:  Trackmania: Power Up for PC  7  Screenshots  1  Review Click here for All Game Information.
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