I'm not going to lie. I expected something to actually be different about the sequel to the global racing extravaganza known as Trackmania but after only ten minutes of navigating the menu's and racing the first set of tracks I realised that there was really only two major differences between Trackmania Nations and Trackmania 2 Stadium.
Trackmania in short, is an online racing game with single player and multiplayer content you can download from steam. Every race is either a checkpoint time trial or a lapped circuit that become progressively harder as you make your way through the many tracks in the single player mode. What makes this game so appealing is the way each track is somewhat over the top, incorporating loops, driving on walls and launching your car off of ramps to get to that finish line in the distance.
The game doesn't just stick to racing though as the in-game level editor used to make the single player tracks is open to the players to build something themselves. That is where multiplayer stands out the most, gathering huge amounts of players all on the same track created by other players where the creativity of the community is only limited by what blocks they can use. I myself recall competing against these other players to see if they could beat my time (of which they managed every single time) on some peculiar track that involved hurling your car sideways so that you do not crash into a billboard and still maintained your speed round the corner.
As exciting as the game can become, those two differences between the sequel and the original still linger.
The first is the fact that TM2S is in HD where TMN was not and definitely looks as though it is on par with other games of the current generation. That much is obvious as you whiz around the outrageous tracks that makes the series so appealing but just making the game HD doesn't really feel like it is worth a completely new sequel.
The second notable change is the price. Trackmania Nations is a free to play game on steam and you can still purchase Trackmania United which is an expanded version of nations with new game modes, vehicle types and terrain. This version of the game was a standalone that went on sale for £20. However, TM2S is not free to play and costs around £8 on steam. That in itself is a deterrent to the old fans, even if it is barely the price of a pre-owned GBA game.
Overall, the game is still very fun to play and I am very happy to see sequels coming onto steam for me to play. However, I just wish they experimented with new things rather than keep everything the way it used to be. They might as well had made the sequel as downloadable content considering that is all it really feels like.
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