With this initial eyeful of crinkle cut cars, seeds of abomination are hastily sown

It's grating, garage-guzzling gyrations - as once more, aggrieved rallying kicks up some pixelated mud.
Stephen Pierce

In the same way that grey is in the ascendant within magazines a la mode, and Sunny Delight is the commanding choice for the juvenile proletariat, racing titles have a strong claim for prevalence on the PlayStation.

But every ashen Balenciaga A-line has its New Look rip-off. And the mottled masses are rarely placated with Spar own-brand juice. Similarly the world's Gran Turismos and Colin McRaes are not without pretenders. Enter Rally Cross 2.

Be advised, we are talking determinedly average product here. So much so, it is tricky to determine where exactly it intends to position itself within this fanatically over-subscribed genre. While the title appears to have pretensions to being a 'serious' racer, it slides at the first ditch due to an apparent lack of all the elements which would qualify it as such.

Rally Cross 2's offering of nine diverse courses - three open, the rest unlockable - appears reasonably in line with expectations for such a fancy. Similarly 10 modes of tin transportation - including a modest sprinkling of truckness - is acceptable, without perhaps appearing gregarious. Into the bargain you also get tossed the obligatory two-player function and three difficulty levels. All well and standard.

What does come as a welcome slap around the chops among this mire of mediocrity is the track editor. This manifests itself as a kind of digital Scalextric - a limited selection of pieces: turns, bumps, straights, gravel and the like, and the option to splice them together how you wish.