The Tracks

Before you race on each track, you can modify three settings: direction (race the map the normal way or in reverse); number of laps (1 to 32); and weather (daylight, moonlight, sunset, or rain (replaced by snow on the snow track)). During the race, you can knock around obstacles, such as benches, bundles of hay, boulders, and signs, and even send them careening onto the track, where they’ll stay until the race is over and create a hairy situation for everyone. Unless, of course, someone manages to knock them out of the way.

Canyon Race Track: One of the easier tracks in the game, this one features gentle curves that don’t require you to slow down too much. The first curve is trickier than it looks, however, so don’t become overconfident off the starting line and take it too fast. It also features a couple of rocks that will really slow you down if you run into them. You’ll find a few more rocks scattered here and there along the sides of this track, but you should be able to avoid them easily.

Just before the finish line, though, you’ll encounter some sawhorses set out to block the left lane, along with two series of traffic cones. While they won’t slow you down as dramatically as the rocks will, they do affect your speed, especially the traffic cones, which tend to bounce around in front of your car before they finally spin free. The second series of cones also includes a boulder and a pair of heavy barrels. The latter will slow you down in much the same manner as the rocks.

You should have a large lead built up by the time you reach this point in the lap, but if not, these obstacles could cost you crucial seconds that mean the difference between first and second place.

A final note: You can ride along the canyon walls that aren’t very steep, although doing so serves no purpose other than having a bit of fun. You can easily wipe out while doing so, which will definitely put you at a disadvantage when the game resets your position on the track and you discover that most of your opponents flew by.

City Short Circuit: This track starts with a nice long straightaway, but very quickly you’ll encounter a pair of really tight corners that will put your driving skills to the test. Make it past them and you’ll come across a right-angle turn, followed immediately by an incline that will send your car airborne, which sounds like fun until you realize that if you take the jump too fast, you’ll run into the wall at the very next right-angle corner.

Our advice: Take that jump easy, going for a small lift rather than a dramatic leap that will just cause you to crash. (Yes, the temptation is great to floor it heading up that incline, but at what cost?) Make it past that hairy series of turns and you’ll have just one gentle curve to contend with before hitting two more really tight corners. Handle them well and you’ll have a great opportunity to stomp on the gas and pick up some extra time in the straightaway before going through the cycle all over again.

Benches and newspaper racks serve the same purpose on the city track that boulders serve in the outdoor tracks. You’ll also run into a few series of traffic cones while negotiating those early turns.

High Speed Loop: Your standard competitive racing track, this one features a perfect straightaway with the start/finish line situated almost in the middle of it. The rest of the track consists of fairly forgiving curves, except for three tight ones before you reach the straightaway again. As you might expect, those final curves serve to punish overconfident drivers who think they can relax because the straightaway is just around the corner.

You won’t find any obstacles, such as boulders or benches, on this track. It’s just you, the road, and your opponents.

Mountainside Race Track: Spectacular views that could easily distract you from the race dominate this track. None of the curves are too difficult, save three tight ones located — you guessed it — just before the start/finish line. You’ll also find your usual boulders scattered here and there, along with two tunnels that provide a change of pace. Watch out for the curve just after each tunnel: The first one isn’t very tight, although it can sneak up on you very easily, but the second one is a doozy.

Small Rally Track: This outdoor setting features stacks of hay that serve the same purpose as traffic cones. You can easily knock them out of the way, but they will slow you down. Watch the jump just after the start/finish line: it leads into a tight curve that you likely won’t get through without a crash, if you’re airborne too long. That curve also features a series of heavy barrels.

Most of the other curves in this track are much more forgiving, although our advice for handling the series of small ones about halfway through is to drive straight across them. The grassy areas will slow you down a bit, but not as much as trying to handle each curve individually, as if you’re driving a slalom. Right after those curves, the track becomes paved, rather than the dirt that comprises the rest of it.

You get better traction on a paved road, of course, so that’s your chance to increase your speed, although you shouldn’t get too cocky, since the obligatory tight curve pops up just before the start/finish line. The track is paved until just beyond the start/finish line, when it becomes dirt again.

Snow Track: You can race this track without snowy weather, although that still won’t keep you from having to negotiate a pair of curves where the road is covered with snow. One of them, of course, is right before the start/finish line. There’s a jump right after the other one — feel free to take it as fast as you want, since it leads into a gentle curve that you should be able to handle even if you jump far.

We should also point out the fact that there’s snow along the side of the road throughout this track — unlike grass or other material that will simply slow you down, you can spin out pretty easily when your car encounters it.