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ARCADE
PolyTrack Review: A TrackMania Clone That Actually Understands the Assignment
I've played approximately 847 TrackMania wannabes, and PolyTrack is one of maybe three that didn't make me want to throw my keyboard. It's a low-poly racing game that knows what it's doing, even if I'm too tired to be excited about it.
Paul
January 26, 2026
7.1
Overall Score
"PolyTrack is a competent TrackMania homage that does exactly what it promises without screwing it up, which in the current indie landscape counts as a minor victory."
First Impressions (Or: Here We Go Again With the TrackMania Clones)
Look, I've reviewed enough TrackMania clones to write a dissertation on why most of them fail. They nail the aesthetic but forget about physics. Or they get the speed right but the tracks are boring. Or â and this is my personal favorite â they add some gimmick nobody asked for like combat or story mode because apparently pure racing isn't enough anymore. PolyTrack showed up on my review queue, and I physically groaned. Another low-poly racer. Another 'inspired by TrackMania' tagline. Another hour of my life I'll never get back. Except... it's actually competent? The first track loaded fast, the controls responded immediately, and I didn't clip through the floor on my first loop. In 2024, this counts as a miracle. I'm not saying I'm impressed â I'm just saying I didn't immediately close the tab, which for me is basically a standing ovation.
Racing Mechanics: They Actually Understand Physics (Mostly)
The core gameplay is pure time-trial racing with loops, jumps, and that specific brand of 'threading the needle at 200 mph' tension that TrackMania perfected back when I still had hopes and dreams. You race against the clock, chase your ghost, and obsessively shave milliseconds off your best time until 3 AM when you realize you've been playing for six hours and forgot to eat dinner. The physics feel tight â cars grip when they should, drift when you expect, and launch off jumps with predictable arcs instead of yeeting you into the void randomly. I tested this extensively by deliberately trying to break it, because that's what I do now apparently, and it held up better than most indie racers. The controls are responsive enough that when I crash, it's my fault, which is both refreshing and infuriating because I can't blame the game. The speed escalation works well too â early tracks ease you in, later ones demand precision I haven't needed since F-Zero GX traumatized me in 2003.
Low-Poly Visuals: Minimalism as Intentional Design (I Think)
The low-poly aesthetic is clean, runs smoothly, and doesn't assault my eyes with bloom effects or lens flares like every other racing game thinks it needs. Tracks are clearly defined, obstacles are visible from a distance, and I never squinted wondering if that purple blob was a boost pad or the finish line. It's functional minimalism, which is either genius or lazy depending on whether you think it's an artistic choice or a budget limitation. I'm choosing to believe it's intentional because the alternative is depressing. The environments lack personality â everything looks like a tech demo from 2015 â but for a time-trial racer, clarity matters more than prettiness. I just wish there was more visual variety between tracks because after the twentieth course that looks like a TRON screensaver, I started zoning out. The color schemes are fine but safe. Give me something bold. Make my eyes hurt. Commit to the aesthetic instead of playing it so safe.
Audio Design: Did Someone Forget the Volume Knob?
The sound design is so understated I genuinely thought my audio wasn't working for the first two minutes. Engine sounds exist but are whisper-quiet, like the car is apologizing for disturbing me. There's minimal music â just ambient background noise that I forgot was playing until I paused and noticed the silence felt exactly the same. Look, I understand not everyone wants eurobeat blasting at maximum volume while they race, but this is the opposite extreme. The audio provides almost no feedback for speed, impacts, or successful jumps. When I nail a perfect drift and there's barely a tire squeal, it feels unsatisfying. Compare this to TrackMania's aggressive sound design that makes every boost feel like a rocket launch, and PolyTrack feels sedated. I don't need an orchestra, but give me something with energy. The sparse audio works against the intensity of the racing, creating a weird disconnect where I'm flying through loops at absurd speeds in near-silence like I'm racing in a library.
Level Editor: The Reason This Game Exists
The included level editor is why PolyTrack actually has staying power beyond the base tracks. It's surprisingly robust for a free itch.io game â you can build loops, jumps, banking turns, and all the track pieces you'd expect from this genre. The interface is cleaner than I expected, though I still fumbled through it for twenty minutes because there's no real tutorial and I'm too stubborn to read documentation that probably doesn't exist anyway. But once I figured it out, I built a deliberately sadistic track with three consecutive loops and a blind jump that I'm unreasonably proud of. The ability to share custom tracks theoretically extends the game's life indefinitely, assuming a community actually forms around it. My main gripe is the lack of advanced features like moving obstacles or conditional triggers â it's purely static geometry â but for basic track creation, it's solid. I've seen level editors in $30 games that are less functional than this, so reluctant credit where it's due.
What This Game Gets Right (Despite My Instinct to Complain)
PolyTrack understands that time-trial racing is about the loop â that 'just one more attempt' compulsion where you keep racing because you KNOW you can shave another tenth of a second off your time. The ghost system works perfectly for this, showing exactly where you gained or lost time compared to your best run. The instant restart after crashes is fast enough that I never got frustrated waiting, which is crucial because I crashed approximately nine hundred times while learning the tracks. Loading times are nearly instant. The performance is smooth even when doing stupid things like building tracks with fifty consecutive loops. And perhaps most importantly, the game doesn't try to be more than it is. There's no forced story mode, no grinding for unlocks, no battle pass nonsense. It's just pure racing against the clock with a level editor, exactly what the description promised. In an era where every game wants to be a live service, this focused approach feels almost radical. Almost made me smile. Almost.
Rating Breakdown
Quality
7.2
Shockingly polished for an itch.io racer â no crashes, clean UI, and the physics actually work consistently instead of launching me into the stratosphere randomly.
Innovation
4.1
It's literally TrackMania with fewer polygons, and the last time I saw something truly innovative in arcade racing was... 2006? Yeah, 2006.
Value
8.3
Free with a level editor that actually functions means I can't complain about value, even though complaining is literally my job.
Gameplay
7.8
The time-trial loop kept me playing way past my bedtime, which annoyed me because I had reviews to write, but here we are.
Audio/Visual
6.9
Low-poly aesthetic is fine and all, but the minimalist sound design is so quiet I thought my speakers were broken for the first three races.
Replayability
8.1
Level editor plus the inherent 'just one more run' addiction of time trials means I'll probably waste another evening on this, unfortunately.
What Didn't Annoy Me
Physics are solid and consistent â crashes are your fault, not the engine's fault
Level editor actually works and gives the game longevity beyond the base tracks
Performance is excellent with instant restarts that respect your time
Free pricing means I literally cannot complain about value without looking ridiculous
Pure time-trial focus without forced progression systems or monetization garbage
Ghost racing implementation is clean and helps you actually improve your times
What Made Me Sigh
Audio design is so quiet I thought my speakers died â needs way more feedback
Zero innovation beyond 'TrackMania but simpler' â seen this exact game concept dozens of times
Visual variety is nonexistent after the first few tracks â everything bleeds together
Level editor lacks advanced features like moving obstacles or dynamic elements
No tutorial or guidance means you fumble through features hoping something works
Final Verdict
PolyTrack is a competent TrackMania homage that does exactly what it promises without screwing it up, which in the current indie landscape counts as a minor victory. It's not innovative â I last saw genuine innovation in arcade racing around the time I still had faith in humanity â but it's polished, free, and understands the addictive nature of time-trial racing. The level editor gives it replayability beyond the base content, assuming you have friends who also enjoy building sadistic track layouts at 2 AM. The audio needs serious work and the visuals could use more personality, but the core racing loop is solid enough to keep you playing despite these shortcomings. If you miss the pure time-trial intensity of classic TrackMania and don't mind minimalist presentation, PolyTrack delivers. Just turn up your volume first, or you'll think it's broken like I did. It's a 7.1, which from me means 'actually worth your time,' even if admitting that physically pains me.
PolyTrack
Tags
racing
arcade
time-trial
low-poly
level-editor
trackmania-inspired
speedrunning
physics-based
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