Leading the pack

Trackmania, the virtual trackset and PC sensation, is on the final lap as it speeds towards its home console debut on the Wii. The first trailer for the game has come out of Focus Home Interactive, showing an engine that looks finely tuned and running on all cylinders.

Firebrand Games, the racing game specialist who handled the DS game, is producing Trackmania with Octane Wii, a new inhouse racing focused engine designed to get the most out of the Wii hardware and deliver shiny models under a solid frame rate. The first footage of the game shows a motor that certainly appears to be packing some real horsepower.

In a genre largely under-represented on the Wii, Trackmania comes to the console with few titles to be compared against, although in all reality, Trackmania is like no other racing game anyway.

The game will bring its track building, time trial gameplay to the console with Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection support. Players will be able to record times for world ranking and download ghost data for single player tracks as well as race online. Any home made, would be Top Gear circuits, will be able to be shared with friends.

Anyone without online connection or inspiration to build will find a single player game with over 200 tracks to race in 6 suitably clichéd locations, albeit with a relatively small selection of 6 vehicles. Local split-screen multiplayer modes are also present. The engine is getting fired up for a Q2 2010 release.