There's no upgrade system in Trackmania. There's no collision detection between you and other drivers, there's no difficulty levels, no physics settings, no slow motion crashes, no random hazards, none of that. There's you. There's the clock. And there's the never-ending pursuit of the perfect line. Trackmania United is, simply put, the definitive example of a racing game in it's purest form.

This is one of the only games I have ever played in recent history where the one and only factor that determines your success is your skill. You can't blame anything on other cars getting in your way, moving track pieces, or not having enough nitro to shoot you past the competition. Barring things beyond your control such as real-life distractions or equipment malfunction, whether you win or lose is entirely determinate on how skillful you are. That's it. This alone makes Trackmania United an ideal game for those who can do without more conventional elements found in other racing games; the people who are satisfied with the honor and glory of simply being more skillful than somebody else.

Trackmania United is somewhat of a compilation of all the games that came before it, and when compared to the latter games in the series (the fractured release of Trackmania 2 and the console port of Trackmania Turbo) it arguably has the most content. TM2 has 3 enviornments (soon to be 4), TMT has the same 4 enviornments (reskinned as a spinoff), and TMU has 7. There's tons of tracks for each and they all have their own unique physics:

-Stadium: One of the best-feeling envoirnments in the game. Stadium cars are quick, grippy, and honestly feel more grounded in reality than any of the other enviornments in the game. Not to say that I'm looking for realism in an arcade racer, just sayin. Stadium tracks demand precision, and merely grazing a wall is almost always a guarantee that you'll get a silver medal or lower.
-Island: One of my personal favorites, Island cars are blazing fast and extremely drifty at high speeds. The tracks are wide with long turns to compensate, resulting in an enviornment that's a blast to drive in. Bonus, load up your favorite Ferrari skin and play Splash Wave or something in the background for some mock-OutRun fun.
-Bay: Another one of my favorites, Bay cars are like a compromise between Stadium and Island. They demand the automotive dexterity of Stadium while still being almost as fast as Island. Also a lot of fun.
-Snow: Snow cars are extremely grippy and can practically turn on a dime. These tracks tend to twist and snake around; don't expect a lot of straightaways, and always try to keep your eyes one corner ahead.
-Rally: With scenery inspired by old rural Europe (I guess?), Rally cars are a little on the slow side and very easy to handle, and are actually a little grippier than you'd think on dirt surfaces. This is fine; you're still gonna have to pay attention to your line in order to nab those gold medals.
-Desert: One of the less enjoyable enviornments in my opinion (but that's just me), Desert cars are a little awkward to get used to. You will get used to them, though, and they teach you to manage your speed as you corner, lest you lose traction and therefore valuable momentum.
-Coast: My least favorite enviornment at first, Coast eventually grew on me. They're the slowest cars in the game, yet some of the hardest to control. Take a corner too fast or try to turn too hard and you start sliding, which will most likely result in that gold medal ghost cruising right past you. Where other enviornments teach you how to respond at high speeds, Coast demands patience and subtlety.

Trackmania United's price tag can be a little steep when you consider it's age, but you ARE getting a ton of content. If you want to try it out first, the Stadium enviornment is available as a standalone game for free (Trackmania Nations), with a fully fleshed out singleplayer campaign, the powerful track editor, full mod support, and unlimited multiplayer. There's people out there that have logged hundreds and even thousands of hours in the free version of Stadium alone. Try that out, and if you want more, then buy United, which will give you full access to all of these features in the other 6 enviornments. United also features extra modes for a change of pace. There's the Platform mode that puts you on much more technical tracks where time isn't a factor; medals are awarded based on how many times you have to reset your car to get to the end. When was the last time you played a racing game as a platformer? It sounds gimmicky but it's actually really interesting. There's also Stunt mode, which gives you a time limit to do flips and spins to get as many points as you can, and Puzzle mode, where the game gives you an unfinished track and gives you a limited number of extra track pieces, and you have to figure out how to arange them to make the track doable. All of this, combined with the track editor, the thousands of player-created tracks to download and enjoy, and both local and online multiplayer modes makes Trackmania United one of the most expansive racing games you will ever play. You can play it how you want; turn off the opponent cars and casually try to make it to the end of a track, shoot for gold or even Nadeo medals, or even compete in asynchronous multiplayer on the singleplayer tracks by doing official races to submit your best time to the global leaderboards. You can treat United like you'd treat Nations by spending all of your time exploring the wealth of content in your favorite enviornment, or become a jack of all trades and master every car's unique driving style. There's something for everybody. I've had the game for 3 days and I've already logged over 10 hours. I know I'm gonna sink many more into this game.

Trackmania United is purely a time trial game at heart. When judged by those standards, in my opinion it is one of the only games I would ever award the title of "flawless" to. If you want a time trial game, or even if you're just looking for the best Trackmania game, look no further. Trackmania United is among the best of the best.