How is it that four keys on your keyboard (well, three since I never touched the brake as it’s for girls and chickens) can be the source of so much fun, excitement, depth, desperation, general swearing, pride and more swearing?. Accelerate. Left. Right. That’s all you need, but it’s not all you get.

TrackMania United is the third in Nadeo’s racing series but it’s the first one I’ve played. Since I had no real idea of what to expect when I fired it up, I had no real sense anticipation. I wasn’t thinking "will it be as good as..." or "will such and such a feature have changed". I was a blank canvas as far as the game was concerned and it promptly drove all over me leaving skid marks (!) aplenty.

Up to now most of my racing experience has been sim flavoured and played with a steering wheel, yet I definitely got this game. Its arcadey-iness and simplicity appealed to me from the start. I even loved the front end. For once, I didn’t find myself instantly looking for the ’kill the music’ option. It was cool, unobtrusive and just seemed to work with what was on screen. It was the first sign that this was a quality game, that Nadeo had put thought into an obvious but sorely neglected part of gaming.

The main gameplay modes on offer are Solo and Multiplayer. The Solo mode is further split into Race, Puzzle and Platform with several difficulty levels in each and it’s here that you’re likely to spend most of your time. In each mode you can race the tracks in Training as many times as you like. The game keeps track of all your best times but you need to at least beat Bronze to open up new tracks and levels. When you’re ready, press ESC to select an Official race and post a time to the online leaderboard for your area. Online elements are all over this game and you’d be wise to be online when you play as it adds a huge amount to the experience. When you register you get to choose your local area. The times you record (in Race and Puzzle) and the number of restarts you make (in Platform) are all recorded and posted on the leaderbaords. It adds a compelling thrill to the gameplay when you see your name creeping towards the top (if you’re good enough that is) as well as a good amount of replay value.

Racing itself is twitchy and fun but it can be as equally frustrating at times, particularly in Platform mode (more on this later). There’s a fine line between the game just being downright annoying in the trickiness of its tracks or puzzles and the player’s inability to stop messing up. It can seem a little bit unfair at times, but it’s not off-putting. It just makes you swear a bit more. And again, knowing that (FG)Tricky in you area has the best time or score on that leaderboard and you simply MUST beat him compels you to replay tracks over and over until you grumpily admit defeat and move on with pride just about intact.

Race mode sees the largest amount of tracks, over 200, spread over each of the game’s 7 themed areas of Stadium, Island, Snow and so on. Each area offers a different vehicle and whilst all the opponent vehicles are the same as yours you can pimp your vehicle to your heart’s content in your Profile page. Using the the in-game currency, Coppers, you can buy user-created tracks, vehicle skins and other wares in ManiaLink, the self-styled MySpace for TrackMania. But it has to be said that it is neither an attractive nor particularly user-friendly experience doing so. Whilst the first Official race on each track is free, subsequent official races will cost you 10 Coppers. You earn Coppers as you race, and even for booting up the game, so unlike real life you’ll never be truly skint. I personally don’t see the point of Coppers. I didn’t find it an incentive at all, more of a necessity in order to post more official results. The game could easily do without it.

Platform is the other main game mode for me. The aim isn’t to complete the track in the fastest time, rather it’s to get through its pitfalls and traps without any restarts. You have to pick your way through the develishly designed tracks with their blind corners, gaps in the road, jumps at just the right speed and other such chicanery. It’s maddening fun figuring it all out and then nailing it.

The idea behind Puzzle is this: there’s a start line, a finish line and a set number of building blocks with which to join the two up. Figure out the quickest way using the game’s cut-down editor, race it as fast as you can and move on to the next one. After Platform this mode didn’t seem as appealing and I didn’t spend much time with it. Which is weird for two reasons: I usually like puzzle games and this is how TrackMania first started life in its earliest incarnation. It’s a nice idea but the pace and excitement of the other modes just isn’t there. Worth playing only if you’re in a contemplative mood.

There a whole bunch of other options to keep you occupied. With Multiplayer you can play over LAN or with a bunch of strangers on any of the many local or international game servers. You could lose yourself for days in the Editor just fooling around. I’m not a designer by any means and I wasn’t doing any serious track laying, but I was engrossed with all of the tools and tiles, figuring out what they did and testing the results right there. That’s also part of the joy of this game - everything is instant. Design a track, play it immediately at any stage of the design. Restarts in the game are instant. Loading the tracks is near instant. Other developers please take note!

TrackMania United is one of those games that you either "get", or you don’t. The arcadey controls, the cartoony physics, the wacky tracks, the vibrant visuals and the vaguely lightweight touch to things will not appeal to everyone. Racing sim fans will find the lack of in-game car collisions a travesty, for example, not to mention the mere 7 available vehicles on offer.

Its online elements are likely to give the game much added longevity. Nadeo appear to be taking a back seat in terms of additional content. They’re leaving that up to the likes of you and me and already there is an amazing amount of stuff to chose from in ManiaLink. On the online downside I think the Coppers system is more of a hindrance than a benefit to the community and needs to be revamped or removed.

The absolute simplicity of the controls and gameplay belies a depth and replayability. It’s hugely satisfying whilst being interminably frustrating. It’s a paradox of a game. Instantly accessible enough that you can play it for 5 minutes on a break, deep enough to keep you going for hours at a time. Just make sure the neighbours are out and cover up your pet’s ears on account of the filthy language you’re likely to come out with.