The biggest challenge these days for any racing game is to find an audience and make that niche as happy as possible. The most successful racing franchises over the last 20 years follow this philosophy to a tee, whether its Burnout and Need for Speed for the arcade crowd, or Gran Turismo and Forza...

Pitch perfect controls with a weighty arcade feel; satisfying career mode; generally excellent graphics and presentation; very challenging gameplay despite the useful rewind feature; good selection of cars and tracks; excellent car damage model; aggressive AI

Rather bland multiplayer; barely any music; some frame rate stutters in heavy action; no cockpit view

In 2008 Codemasters gave us GRID, an underrated little game that  admirably straddled the line between arcade racer and simulation and first introduced the ‘rewind' feature that's now become commonplace; now, after five long years, Codemasters has returned to the well and finally released the long...

GRID 2 was long-rumored, but fans of the original felt like the series would never get a chance to continue due to DiRT getting Codemasters' focus for racing action in the succeeding five years. Thankfully, nearly a year ago, a follow-up was announced and the fanbase rejoiced.

Born from the ashes of Codemasters' old TOCA Race Driver series, the first GRID was a continuation of the story-driven racer in which you play the central role of a burgeoning raw driving talent, wheel-spinning your way from one event to the next.

Despite the relentless drive for innovation in gaming, I've found that the most appealing aspects of racing titles have remained the same over the years. The exhilaration of pure speed, from searing straightaways to the centripetal pull of the turns, still burns between the white dots on the black...

Lovely track environments; delicious vehicle handling; intriguing event variety

Occasionally aggressive AI behavior; unconscionable amount of grind in single-and multi-player

It's been five years since Codemasters first released GRID , its explosive, energetic racer that took the traditional motorsport of the old TOCA Race Driver games and put them through a Hollywood filter.

Looks exquisite; Plenty to do; Car handling hits the sweetspot

Not much there that's genuinely new

The original Race Driver: GRID was my favourite arcade style racer and when I'd finished it I waited for a long time for a replacement, or for something to even come close. The wait is over I'm pleased to say and it's GRID 2 which has filled the gap!

The linchpin holding Grid 2's single player storyline and main gameplay mode together is World Series Racing (WSR), which is a racing competition started by eccentric billionaire Patrick Callahan.

Although not class-leading; the graphics still look great; Exhaust notes of each car sound excellent; LiveRoutes feature in WSR mode keeps players on their toes; Excellent presentation; Realistic car damage; Rewind feature works well if and when you need it

Lack of variety in car selection; Lack of variety in track selection; Can only change look of vehicles; not their performance parts such as engine or brake upgrades; No interior cabin vantage point

The first few moments of Grid 2 should be a disaster. You're strapped into a bruising muscle car and immediately asked to negotiate the corners of downtown Chicago amid a cavalcade of roaring V8s.

Handling strikes a great balance between arcade and simulation; Stellar audio and visual design; Broad selection of events reflect a variety of driving disciplines; Engrossing multiplayer

No driving assists to fine tune the difficulty; Occasional frame rate hitches during collisions