The Fast and the Furious

After that, ripping through the point-to-point races and top-speed competitions available at the first "race meet" was child's play. As a kickass mix of Japanese hip-hop and rock blared, we left one crew after another eating our dust through hairpin turns and winding tunnels. All of the races we played were against a single rival, but we're hoping for bigger, more dramatic events down the road.

When we got bored of taking the competition's money on the freeway, we were able to buy a Lexus and head off to the mountains for some fairly challenging drift competitions. The focus in these races isn't so much on speed as it is on style, and we found it pretty easy to impress the judges with our sideways sliding. The "grip meter" at the bottom of the screen - which shows just how smooth your drifting is - was a big help as well.

Mikel Reparaz
After graduating from college in 2000 with a BA in journalism, I worked for five years as a copy editor, page designer and videogame-review columnist at a couple of mid-sized newspapers you've never heard of. My column eventually got me a freelancing gig with GMR magazine, which folded a few months later. I was hired on full-time by GamesRadar in late 2005, and have since been paid actual money to write silly articles about lovable blobs.