If you're the type of person that goes for two or three appetizers instead of deciding on an entr¿e and juggles half-a-dozen girlfriends instead of committing to just one, have I got a racing game for you. Codemasters' ToCA Race Driver 3 lets you jump behind the wheel in an unheard of 35 different racing disciplines. Is it all too much? Is it overkill? While the game isn't without its problems, it does manage to tie together all of these ways to go too fast and deliver a monster of a game for racing fans.

The evolution of Codemasters' ToCA Race Driver series has been an interesting one. Unlike franchises which age simply by tacking on a few new elements and a higher numeral to the title, Codemasters' racing sim has cranked things up more than just a notch with each iteration. The original Pro Race Driver was a true Car-PG that had you racing your way -- literally -- through an epic saga of vengeance and sibling rivalry. ToCA Race Driver 2 bagged much of the melodrama and concentrated more on diversifying the driving. ToCA Race Driver 3 ups the ante even further -- putting you in the driver's seat of just about any type of vehicle with four tires and steering wheel.

While the PS2 version of ToCA can't avoid the inevitable comparisons to the grand-daddy of all racing sims, the Gran Turismo series, the Xbox version of the game faces potentially even tougher scrutiny when held up against Microsoft's stellar Forza Motorsport. Here, it's ToCA's scope and quirks that help distance it from the top racing sim for the console -- for both better and worse.


In Forza, I play as myself -- a guy that plays games for a living who, between real-life trysts with game journalist groupies, upgrades his automotive situation by buying sweeter rides and kicking up the parts of those cars already in his stable. The lifestyle may seem exciting to some, but I'm used to it. Ho-hum... another cutie bowled over by my brilliant take on a GBA platformer. What has set Codemasters' series apart from the scores of other racers is the drama of the backstories. While not as deep or hokey as that of the first game, I still live the life of a racer who -- day after day -- must put his life on the line in perilous high-speed action. Win a race ugly and there's a cut scene of some angry and vengeful opponent sticking his finger in my chest threatening me. Where this World Tour Mode feels flat, though, is the way things jump from racing style to racing style. It just doesn't seem all that logical that my career path would take me from an off-road rally one minute to Formula 1000 racing the next minute and then onto a muddy monster truck circuit the next.

A more logical way to play for racing fans is the Career Mode. Here, you choose a discipline and slowly make your way up the ranks. Want to air it out on some of the most famous ovals in the world? You'd better get ready to pay your dues, because before you get to see what Indianapolis looks like at 230 mph, you're going to have to pound the dirt in a quirky lightweight sprintcar. This mode also can seem slightly incomplete. Gone are not only the story-driven RPG elements of the World Tour mode, but also the leveling-up RPG elements found in most racers. Yes, it's cool to move up to more and more challenging versions of a racing style, but what you don't get is that attachment to a particular car or car maker. You don't agonize over what upgrades you're going to spend your money on or what cool decals and paint scheme you're going to hit your car with -- things that made Forza so addictive.