Since the first ATV title hit the PSP after launch, we've been able to count on good, stylish graphics. ATV Offroad Fury Pro carries its weight among the field of competitors and does a few things really well visually. The track designs are awesome so if a few aren't full of detail or especially interesting, you'll find forgiveness. I really did wish for more in the area of shortcuts or long, free-roaming tracks, but that really isn't the style. You'd be mistaken to think this is a rambling, big-world racer. Unlike a rally title, this is a mix of dirt tracks, indoor arena racing and contained freestyle settings. The bells and whistles visually include lots of things to customize on bikes and riders and even a video viewer. If still photos are your thing, you can use the Photographer mode to shoot and save pictures of a race. Unlocking videos is a cool feature that seems to have made a showing on several PSP games lately. The concept of trading cards that you can win during races and trade with other players is yet another piece of what makes ATV Offroad Fury Pro such an endless title.

The music of ATV Offroad Fury Pro leaves a lot to be desired. Too eclectic and not enough. A few standouts like Aesop Rock make you wish for more, but there were a host of songs that I quickly took off the playlist to be heard never again. What stood out was that heavy rock and hip-hop made the playlist, but the artist selection was second rate. Instead of corporate rock and metal, it would have been nice to hear more indie bands and more truly hard shizzle in the playlist. If you argue that music selection can never please everyone, the answer would be to include a lot more songs. By the time I carved out the less agreeable tunes, I only had a dozen on rotate.

Gamers like to think they're on the leading edge of technology, at least when we're talking about videogame fans. All the neat online communities being created to share photos, music and other media parallel advances in massively multiplayer online games like Second Life and WoW.

Where have console games fared in this landscape? Pretty poorly, especially when it comes to handheld systems. Sure we've got lots of great looking games for PSP, but online features have sucked. After Wip3out Pure, I pretty much gave up hope that games would start taking advantage of all the neat possibilities of online play. There were some pleasant surprises with infrastructure competitive play, but the piece that I've missed most of all is seeing games that smoothly integrate the online with the offline. Every game can have ultimate replay now if the developers factor in an online community. The few times I've seen this done well (think Legend of Heroes as one of the best), the audience response is enthusiastic. ATV Offroad Fury Pro hasn't been out that long and already there are lots of dedicated players online sharing scores.

There are lots of typical aspects to the game such as single player modes and tracks galore with training to get you started. The multiplayer can be ad hoc or a true online-enabled experience. Rather than being limited to racing online, there is a genuine community experience. Sign up with sponsors and you'll get "e-mail" through the game system letting you know about new parts. Win a few times and you'll get solicited from sponsors as well. Human players can gather and launch a race from the main lobby or just send messages back and forth. Online rankings are available in each type of race (Snowcross, Enduro, Rally, etc.). You can race the Championship rounds against the CPU and have your score averages post to the Offroad Fury Pro message board. If you're really a badass, you can put ghost racers up on the board for others to download.

Racing with sponsors will win you more sponsor gear and money that you can use to customize your rides and purchase new items. There are plenty of custom options for rides and riders in ATV Offroad Fury Pro. Race an ATV, a truck, buggy or bike. Before each race you can consider upgrading equipment and tweaking things like tires, gearbox and suspension to fit terrain. I love the tweaking stuff but less patient folks can accept the defaults and get to racin'. There are a wide range of tricks available that will score big points during races and some sponsor offers are tied to trick points as much as to how well you place or how many times you win.

There is a nice, balanced feeling to ATV Offroad Fury Pro that has been sorely missed in other titles. The collision detection is touchy, but not unfair. Hit a hay bale and you're going down. Land on another rider or get one on top of you and there will definitely be dirt in your mouth. The system for preloading ATVs and bikes makes a huge difference in placing for races. The tricks are so easy to perform that you may forget the need to land, thus eating more dirt. Trucks and rally cars are probably the most forgiving, but the least fun to ride compared to the smaller vehicles. After you master the preload feature and manage not to land on the top or front side of the bumps, you will be ahead of the pack. Tackle the trick library, learn to string a few together and you'll be golden.

Learning to navigate the in-game menus is a trick in itself. A by-product of being a big, big game is having cascading menus all over the place. I'm not stupid and I sometimes had to twitch the analog stick around to remember where I was in the game. There are actually only a few important things to remember. When you go online or activate the online features, you will be locked out of certain areas in the offline game. This may be a security feature or maybe just a limitation in the system. There are Single Player options and Multiplayer options and the only other choice at a high level involves tweaking your ride or the game system. Once you finish playing with options, painting your car and rider and watching nifty videos, you can jump in and start racing. A training segment helps to understand all the buttons assigned to actions and how to use them. Controlling riders in the game doesn't involve lots of heavy thinking or practice, but the practice part will help you actually get the cool sponsor gear and place in championships.

Load times between levels are only bad when you start a new event. The saving between various menus is only a blip on the radar and not a problem. ATV Offroad Fury Pro runs smooth and has very few flaws. For a racing fan or biker, it is a must-have and even those of us who have only a passing interest can enjoy the game. I really responded most to the online features, including e-mail and messaging, chat and seamless online multiplayer races. There is a nice track editor offline that will allow you to share tracks and extend the game even further. What this game doesn't have, it doesn't need. ATV racing games have a new king of the hills in ATV Offroad Fury Pro.