“Trackmania Turbo” stands out against the myriad of hardcore racing simulators saturating the market today on Windows PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. If you have ever spent hours toiling over camber angles and gear ratios, prepare for a fresh take on the genre, centered squarely on the sheer joy of racing on incredibly innovative tracks at speed. Ubisoft’s “Trackmania Turbo” has more in common with “Super Mario Kart 8” on the Wii U or “Excitebots: Trick Racing” on the Wii, and less in common with the “Gran Turismo” or the “Forza” series.

Performance on the PC version was absolutely flawless, and players with high-refresh-rate monitors will really see their dollars going to work as the player can spin, leap, loop and drift deftly through some of the most exhilarating courses I’ve seen in some time.

There are dozens of tracks in the single-player campaign mode, while the online-multiplayer component of the game offers even more possibilities, afforded by the chance to race on user-created tracks and even the option to create and upload your own. With many tracks in the campaign mode able to be completed in less than 60 seconds and the ability to instantly restart a run at the press of a button, the gameplay moves at a rapid-fire pace and encourages replaying tracks in an attempt to earn the best times and the most gold medals.

If you’re down for some quick, stupid, unapologetically crazy fun, check out “Trackmania Turbo.” I’m certainly looking forward to playing more and will be on the lookout for more entrants of the series going forward.

“Trackmania Turbo” is one of the most enjoyable games of the year so far, it is available now for $39.99.

Disclaimer: Ubisoft provided review code for this game, however, all views expressed are solely those of the author.