Each lap has a distinct theme, as well. An island paradise is wracked by dense clouds and lightning strikes; a polar raceway boasts icy patches and avalanches. Bay City boasts the aforementioned volcanic fissure as well as super-strong winds and earthquake debris, and mountain canyon features smoke and falling trees. But our favorite was Tornado Alley, full of flying objects and at least six twisters that tore a path through the cornfields and picked our cars up, flipping them around setting them down wherever they pleased.
There are eight different cars, each with six paint jobs, but they all handle the same: one button is gas, the other brake, and you can hold a shoulder button in a turn and release when you come out of it to get a small speed boost. It's a simple system, meant for four friends to team up and burn rubber to see who can gain bragging rights - which you can do even if only one person owns the game. Top Gear Downforce might not be the best looking racer ever - it in on a DS, after all - but the hour we spent with it revealed a lot more engine under the hood than we would have guessed.
