This is just one of those titles that didn't really catch on to be a hit, most than likely because people weren't aware of its existence. That is really quite unfortunate because I'm sure there are some out there who are missing out on a great game. For those who are unaware, TrackMania is a track building game that involves ramps, loops, corkscrews, speed boosts and more. Well its sequel, TrackMania Sunrise, has improved in every possible way while staying amazingly true to its predecessor. The single player campaign works fairly similar to the first. You play through a particular campaign, and receive coppers for each race you beat. Which in turn, allows you to create larger tracks as track parts cost a certain number of coppers. Each challenge within a campaign will consist of three medals you can earn which are bronze, silver and gold. The higher medal you achieve, the more coppers you receive. Don't worry about being restricted in the track editor due to the lack of coppers though, because you'll end up with way more than you'll normally be able to use. As an addition, once you achieved all of a particular medal for each challenge in a campaign, you can go for a cup. You start out by deciding which cup you want to go for whether it be bronze, silver or gold, then you will have to play though each challenge in the according campaign on that difficulty level without losing once. You can imagine that winning a gold cup would be pretty tough -- it is. This adds another way to obtain more coppers. You can select from four different game types each with their own set of campaigns. The first is race, which is basically your standard “Beat the clock” scenario. Your main focus will be to get from one end of the track to the other within the assigned time limit while racing with three other ghost cars. The second game type is Platform, where you race through some crazy tracks involving huge jumps or stunts, and try to finish in the least amount of checkpoint restarts. Game type number three is Puzzle, in which you are given a certain number of parts where you must place on the map to complete the track and then race on it to beat a certain given time. Finally the game type that's new to the sequel, and my least favorite, Crazy. Upon first examination, it projected an image of a game mode in which you attempt to achieve some crazy trick to reach the finish line. Instead it's a game mode where a huge number of ghost cars split off in every direction and you must cross the finish line without getting confused and wiping out. One thing for those new to the series must understand is that this isn't exactly a game where you directly race against opponents. What I mean to say is that there are no AI opponents so to speak, but rather prerecorded ghosts. Because of this, you can't run them off the road, you just go straight through them. You technically still have to beat the ghosts to receive a gold metal for that track as they finish in the goal time you need to achieve. Basically, it's best to think of it more of a time trial than a race. There has been a decent graphical boost between these two games. Textures have certainly taken a turn for the better as they are more sharp and realistic. The new locations are pleasing to the eye, though there could've been a larger variety of buildings to choose for the level editor than there was. And the ability to play in different times of day shows off a well built lighting engine with realtime rendering shadows, clearly where they got the name Sunrise. There are still only three car models for three of the different courses but they look great. Plus you now can give your car a custom paint job. Overall, there are many significant improvements with the graphics engine to be found. You'll notice that a lot of the physics feels the same. With the new cars you'll find in this game, you can drive at a much higher rate of speed than its predecessor, but when you jump off a ramp or how you slide, it just feels similar. TrackMania Sunrise also retains the weak car crashes from the original. An interesting thing about this particular installment is that the water now effects your car when you drive into it unlike the first where you would just fall through it without a splash. Yes, now if you're flying really fast and hit the water, you'll skip across it. Something about this came off fairly unrealistic. I have mixed thoughts about the multiplayer component here. The plus side is that you can download tracks that other players have made online. The downside however, racing against other players doesn't bring any new gameplay. Whoever finishes the track in the quickest time before the server time limit runs out, wins. But I'll stress that the ability to play and download track creations of other players is a huge plus, guaranteed to tack on many more hours of gameplay. TrackMania Sunrise is truly an amazing game. Though it wasn't perfect, and probably could've used some improvement in the multiplayer area, it remained an excellent experience overall. A game in which anyone can easily create tracks without the need of knowledge in game development makes it incredibly addictive. This game stays unusually true to its predecessor, with improvements in almost every department. Even though it isn't your standard driving game, I urge racing fans to go out and give it a shot, and for those looking for something simple and addictive.
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