Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights

We admit it: some of us can't drive. We'd love to be able to say there's some kind of mental block that's stopping those individuals from making the typical Saturday morning shopping trips a lot easier, but in reality, it's just sheer laziness.

So instead, they sit on the bus with the rest of the common folk, longing for that tracksuit-wearing yoof on the back row to turn down the daft, repetitive music that's blaring out of his ears at a ridiculous volume. Kids were a lot better in our day.

Luckily for our non-drivers, Juiced 2 has arrived to keep them suitably occupied during their public transport outings. And occupied they will be, because like the last Juiced title to have emerged from THQ's wireless division, 3D Juiced: Eliminator, the biggest attraction here is the long-lasting Career mode.

This time around, however, you're not sneakily entering illegal underground street races. Nope, now it's all about officially endorsed racing, along the very same streets but against the very best drivers the world has to offer.

Starting with a garishly coloured yellow hot hatch, you're given a number of novice challenges to complete, not only to unlock the next set of challenges on your rise to racing greatness, but to also earn much-needed bucketfuls of cash in order to make your car the hottest thing on the tarmac.

Challenges come in numerous forms so as to keep you on your toes. One minute you're up against two fellow racers in a straight three-lap race, and the next you're tasked with completing a number of laps in a set time, with failure bringing you nada in the way of lucre.

And as wonderful as all the notoriety is, as well as the chance to stand proud as the winner of each race, it's the cash you'll be relying on most of all. Upgrades to your vehicle are plentiful, and progressively cost heftier amounts as the motor that once could've been driven by your OAP neighbours suddenly transforms into the kind of beauty that causes young men to ignore their girlfriends' amorous advances every time it rolls past.

Out on the track, things are a little more standard. Your car automatically accelerates – the en vogue option for mobile racing titles – with you only really needing to worry about the direction your vehicle is pointing, and hitting the boost along the home straight.

For the first batch of Career-based races, that's really all you need to focus on. You find yourself flying around the track at top speed without a care in the world. Progress a little further, however, and the tracks narrow, tighten, and become much more twisty, urging you to start using the brake pedal, and drift your motor around bends in order to lap as speedily as possible.

And you know what? It all works quite beautifully. Drifting soon becomes second nature, as does recognising exactly when to release some boost and really start to pull away from your rivals.

The pacing is also well judged, with the Career mode lengthy enough to keep your occupied for a decent chunk of time, but not quite so long as to let the constant stream of 'race, earn cash, upgrade, race' action start to get a little tedious.

And everything is even pretty gorgeous, too. Okay, the backdrops could certainly do with a splash of colour here and there, given that they are a little too dark for our liking – though that could just be us showing our age. Then again, the ability to 'bling' up your motor and give it any (and we do mean any) colour scheme more than counters the sombre environments. But then, that's 'shocking pink' for you.

So far, so great, but note that Juiced 2 hasn't got it all its own way. Collision detection between vehicles is – if you'll pardon the pun – a little hit and miss, with your opponents occasionally carelessly bashing into you, leaving you spinning out into a disastrously placed wall while they nab your previously held position. It's certainly frustrating, especially when it happens on the very last bend of a lengthy race.

But that minor dent can't write off the fact Juiced 2 remains a stunning racer that will keep you gripped for weeks on end with its testing Career option. It might not be the best example of hardcore racing action currently on offer, but it's not far off. And it's certainly more than capable of making bus trips with iPod-wearing youths enjoyable again.

Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights

Blinged up racing action gets even better and is now only a wheel length behind the leaders
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