Trackmania Nations Forever

That I FELT nauseous and giddy even before lid discovered a pair of 3D glasses to wear when playing TrackMania United Forever is testament to the love I feel for the little car game that took over France. That I continued to play while making dangerous-sounding retching noises as I passed nearby bulbous zeppelins in mid-air perhaps redoubles it again. For the layman it's difficult to work out why this blend of the Krypton Factor's obstacle course and a crash-free Carmageddon should endear such love.

TrackMania Nations Forever's origins are genuinely confusing. This is a free standalone sequel to the also-free TrackMania Nations and an update to the retail version of TrackMania United, that delivers a slew of graphical niceties, extra challenges and an emphasis on creating a level playing field in terms of content access across both versions of the game.

In fact, TrackMania United Forever is also due for an imminent retail release should you desire its rally courses, track design puzzles and serious truckage.

Aside from the eye-melting speed rendered by the game and its touching attachment to the cursor keys, the joy comes in the community. Amazingly it's still a game unrivalled in its seamless integration with online track designers and competitors with its My Space-style web navigation system. And it's now in 3D! 3 bloody D! That's amazing!

You can play TrackMania Nations Forever in full right now as it's been lovingly cut and pasted onto our cover DVD and, as ever, could run smoothly on a breadboard attached to a LCD watch.