You start off on the 'playa' in sunny California. The level then progresses to what resembles Los Angeles and you zoom past a Universal Studios Jaws 'knock-off' with an added Dreamworks T-Rex and the front gate to the Paramount Pictures Lot (if it confuses the lawyers enough and stops them being sued then it's ok with us Los Angelinos). Then it's off to downtown before meandering your way up through the valley and into the mountains. As far as introductory tracks go, 'California' won't seem all that easy to master for Student Drivers.

Next and of course slightly more difficult is Mexico (with its Aztec warrior/Tourist bus theme). This one is slightly more hazardous with its falling active volcanic matter and oozing lava (and don't drink the water either). Track three pits you in Louisiana (along with a hill billy sound track), where negotiating different road surfaces such as mud and gravel becomes essential. The fourth track is possibly the most humorous in that you'll need to drive your car fast enough to jump through a barn full of chickens. Or if you stand still long enough you can watch the Titanic slide off into a date with frozen water (and it doesn't take all of 3 hours like the Cameron flick either). Keeping with the 'winter' feel is the fifth track, which takes you through Colorado. It's also the most difficult due to the abundance of ice and snow (and kids throwing snowballs). Perhaps the most visually impressive is the Nevada track (the sixth), which takes you through the desert along with some Area 51 type shenanigans, and then down the 'Strip' in Las Vegas. Although there aren't any hookers on the Strip, Ubi Soft did include some famous landmarks like the Luxor Hotel.

Finally there's the mystery New York track (oops it's no longer a mystery), which is as you'd expect is excessively difficult. Incredibly tight turns and pylons in the middle of the road make this one a rather frustrating experience, which is a shame if you've gone to all the trouble of actually getting to this stage. Although the buildings and metro scenery look the part, the New York track is perhaps the only one that takes itself a little too seriously in that suddenly the designers decided to opt for a much more 'routine' end of game level by making it nigh on impossible to complete. Where's the fun in that? In addition, the track seems to suffer by having far too many forks and short cuts, which make the whole track ridiculously confusing.

Not only do the tracks look visually pleasing but more impressive is the actual necessity to use your break (or better still hand brake) key across all seven tracks. When driving in Speed Busters you never actually get the feeling that you can put pedal to the metal and hold down the 'accelerate' key for the full duration of the race as per Dethkarz because there's just far too much going on. Either you've got to avoid being munched by a car-nivorous Dino or a giant-sized swing blade.