Bizarre Creations has taken the cart racing genre, added to it the realism of actual cars, mixed it all up and given us Blur (currently just in multiplayer beta on XBLA). It is, not to sound like a fanboy, one of the most enjoyable racing games ever.

Now I’m not talking about racing simulators. I’m talking about arcade racing. After having just reviewed Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing I’m in a racy sort of mood these days and the Blur beta struck at the perfect time. I do love the cartoonish cart racers in all their forms - Crash, Sonic, Mario, Cartoon Network - but Blur goes beyond all of them.

Using realistic cars and environments (down to loose gravel pinging off the under carriage as you rumble through it) Bizarre Creations have made a more serious version of the cart racing genre. I have some modicum of success at present winning 10 of 40 races and placing in the top 50% in most of the others. Why? Because it’s not just about battling but also about driving and that’s something I’ve always been rather good at.

If I had to put my finger on what kind of graphics Blur has, I would call them liquid neon and grit. The visuals truly pull you into the game. They make me wish I did have that 46" LCD I’ve always been saying I need (I guess May will be my deadline). But the visuals don’t stop at the powerups. The car models are highly detailed, the environments full of things to see. You just don’t have the time to do it while driving. However, when you come in first place, you can hang out in spectator mode until the race ends and check out some of the scenery.

On top of that you have a pretty decent set of sounds from engines to soundtrack to power up effects. From every aspect the game is made to pull you in and keep you there. I’ve played perhaps five hours now (I even snuck in two races Tuesday under the guise of testing the FPS Freeks).

One of the things I hope they do include in the final version is the ability to either turn power ups off or to pick and choose which will be active on a particular race. Though I can see a lot of people turning off the homing missile (Shunt) and the lightning pillars (Shock) as they’re some of the most annoying for a driver. Though driving through nine or twelve lightning pillars unscathed is an awesome feeling (and nets you fans). It might also be cool if they have a couple other modes available. Right now there’s a demo derby (highest points wins) and standard racing. A hot lap mode would also be cool and even if it was 3-5 laps you could still win even if you don’t lead all the laps etc. Some other things like private slots and party-specific games would be welcomed.

Some people I have seen online have likened this to PGR. Sure there are some elements of that in here, after all it’s a racing game. There’s drifting and gaining fans for tricks and combos (where you’d get Kudos in PGR) and your level goes up based on the number of fans. But after that, I don’t see much similarity.

Bizarre Creations has created a brand new drug and like Huey Lewis said, I need a new drug. The game makes me want to continue to go back for more. To spend the whole day strapped into the cockpit, blast away at opponents and outdrive them when combat fails to do the job. Blur is simply, the most fun I’ve had playing a game in the last 6 months and it certainly promises to give gamers some serious arcade battle racing excitement as soon as it’s ready in late May.