I’ve just spent half my lunch hour going testing this out. At first it felt very odd, as the handling isn’t the same as the 360 version, leaning very slightly further towards the real world than that version. If it rates an eleven out of ten on the ridiculous-arcade-handling-meter on the 360 then it gets a nine on the PSP.

It also doesn’t seem to have the same track deformation technology as its big brother, but it’s still a great achievement. The framerate seems solid, the pop-up is limited to objects a very, very long way away and there are even some persistant objects that can get spread out over the track during the race, such as tyres, rocks and fenceposts. (Well, it is a Bugbear game, after all.)

I started off doing a few races in Quick Race mode, getting used things. I found that the d-pad works better than the nub and the wobbling bonnet-cam view is better than the default chase-cam view and was ready to get stuck in, so it was on to the first Championship. I won the first two races with ease, but the third and final race was on ice and snow and I only managed to finish third due to a terrible first lap.

Overall, I’m very happy with the game. I probably should have waited until this evening to play it, because now I’ll be itching to get back all afternoon while I’m working. Somehow web design has lost its allure.