Trackmania United Forever Review Summary

Addictive arcade racing with seven varied environments, cars and a deep track editor is undermined by a high price for an old game, login issues and unfairly lost coppers.

Extensive track editor and custom tracks: Players praise the advanced track editor that allows creating any track, and the community has produced hundreds of thousands of custom tracks. The editor is simple, intuitive, and offers great tools for unique routes.

Addictive and fun arcade racing: Reviewers describe the game as highly addictive and extremely fun, with an arcade racing style that is fast, tight, and deep. It remains fun even after many years.

Overall very positive reception: The game is widely described as great, very good, and one of the best racing games ever made. Reviewers consistently rate it highly.

Seven diverse environments and cars: The game features seven distinct environments, each with a different car and terrain, providing varied driving physics and scenery. This variety is a major highlight for many players.

Best TrackMania game ever: Many reviewers consider this the best TrackMania title, surpassing Trackmania 2020 in almost every way. It offers the full experience of classic TrackMania and is highly recommended.

High price for old game: Many reviewers complain that the game is too expensive given its age (over 18 years old), especially when compared to newer titles. The price is seen as a major drawback.

Account and login problems: Players face numerous account-related issues: inability to log in, account creation failures, lockouts due to account names, and difficulty recovering passwords or keys. Some are stranded without support.

Coppers are lost unfairly: Players lose coppers when downloads fail or are aborted, when tracks are corrupt, when server uploads fail, and even for pausing or hitting walls during official races. The currency is hard to earn and easy to lose, making the system feel punitive.

Steam version has bugs: The Steam release suffers from various issues, including being stuck on an outdated patch, graphical problems like low-resolution textures, and general instability. These bugs were never fixed by the developers.

Steep difficulty and elite competition: The game requires immense training to reach elite levels, with top medals and author times being extremely difficult. Competing against players who play over ten hours a day feels impossible.

Arcade racing with skill-based gameplay: The game is an arcade racing game where winning depends on skill, featuring an easy-to-learn but hard-to-master difficulty curve. Opponents are ghosts, emphasizing precise driving.

Comprehensive track editor: An integrated track editor lets players build custom tracks with advanced freedom, and these tracks can be shared via Trackmania Exchange. The editor supports mods and downloadable vehicles.

Seven distinct environments with unique physics: The game includes seven environments such as Stadium, Island, Snow, Rally, Coast, Desert, and Bay, each with different car physics and terrain. This variety adds depth to the racing experience.

Online multiplayer and leaderboards: The game supports online multiplayer with dedicated community servers and full lobbies, as well as online leaderboards for time trials. Players can race on community tracks.

Car and track customization: Players can customize cars with liveries and models using the car painter, and create custom tracks. Modding support allows importing car models and appearance edits.

Runs well on low-end hardware: Multiple reviewers confirm the game runs smoothly on weak machines, old PCs, and laptops. It has very low system requirements and performs well even on integrated graphics.

Windows 11 iGPU VRAM bug: On Windows 11 the game is stuck on integrated GPU with only 128MB VRAM, causing textures to not load or appear extremely low quality. This is a severe rendering issue for affected users.

Steam Deck performance is excellent: The game runs beautifully on Steam Deck at 90+ fps consistently on low settings. This indicates strong compatibility with portable hardware.

StarForce DRM incompatibility: StarForce DRM causes incompatibility with modern hardware and operating systems. This prevents the game from running on newer systems.

Lighting glitches in Island environment: Weird lighting glitches occur especially in the Island environment, even with a dgvoodoo workaround. This suggests persistent graphical anomalies in specific areas.

Strong overall recommendation: Many reviewers give unconditional or very strong recommendations, calling the game highly recommended or worth buying without hesitation.

Ideal for arcade racing fans: Reviewers repeatedly recommend the game to fans of arcade racing and high-skill driving, calling it a must-have for the genre.

Try Nations Forever first: Many suggest playing the free Trackmania Nations Forever before deciding to buy this version, as it may suffice for some players.

Best played on sale: A recurring theme is that the game is a great deal when discounted, with many advising to wait for a sale rather than pay full price.

Best entry in the series: Several reviewers consider this the best Trackmania game available, often praising it as the ultimate version of the series.

Community fair range: $10.00 - $20.00.

Endgame: 2000.0h.

Trackmania United is overwhelmingly described as fun and addictive from the start, especially through singleplayer medal chasing and multiplayer racing, with learning the physics mainly deepening enjoyment for some players.

Friction: Learning the game's bugs and physics; Managing speed while cornering without losing momentum; Initial dislike of the Coast environment.

Unlock drivers: Learning the game's bugs and physics; Applying learned skills in multiplayer; Learning to manage speed while cornering; Getting used to each environment's handling.

World-Record Time-Attack Hunter: Time attack with instant restarts, ghost racing, physics or bug mastery, and leaderboard optimization. Motivation: Chasing faster times and leaderboard or world-record glory. Stance: buy.

Chill Arcade Campaigner: Single-player campaigns and medals, casual track completion, and avoiding high-pressure online play. Motivation: Relaxed fun, medal completion, and low-pressure arcade racing. Stance: buy.

Track Editor Tinkerer: Builds and downloads tracks, installs mods or vehicle models, and races custom or community-made content. Motivation: Creative control and endless user-generated content. Stance: sale.

Steam Deck: The audit finds a playable but tinkering-oriented Steam Deck experience. One review confirms Linux performance via Proton Experimental, which is not a seamless native out-of-box result and triggers the minimum score of 40 under the criteria. A Uplay mention adds external launcher ecosystem context. Other feedback is positive about controls, graphics, sound, and course variety, with no reports of crashes, unreadable UI, or battery drain.

Linux and Proton: A single filtered review reports perfect Linux operation when using Proton Experimental. No Linux-specific launch failures, crashes, anti-cheat blockers, or graphical issues are mentioned. The evidence is positive but limited, and reliance on Proton Experimental counts as a minor compatibility tweak rather than a fully default out-of-the-box experience.

Active community and online play: The game still has an active player base and online servers, with many players and busy servers even years after release. The community is described as friendly, helpful, and dedicated.

Community sharing sites and tools: There are community websites like Trackmania Exchange and TrackMania Carpark for sharing tracks, models, and skins, though some sites are down due to security breaches. The modding community supports custom content.

Favorable comparison to Trackmania 2020: Reviewers often compare this game to Trackmania 2020, noting that it lacks the subscription model and pay-to-play elements, and many consider it better in almost every aspect. The one-time payment model is seen as a major advantage.

Includes seven environments and many cars: The game features seven different environments and the most car types in the series, offering a huge amount of content compared to the free version. This variety is a key selling point.

Huge community track library: Players frequently highlight the massive number of community-built tracks available online, with thousands to hundreds of thousands of maps, providing nearly endless variety. This is a major draw for the game.