YMMV / TrackMania

• Even Better Sequel:
  • The original Trackmania was a rather quirky game with limited graphics and only one game mode. The first sequel, however, was spectacularly good in comparison, made the name of the franchise and was years ahead of the majority of games in online play integration. Calling it Trackmania Sunrise was not an understatement.
  • Trackmania 2 has an even easier level editor than the previous, that'll modify terrain if you place down a block that requires modified terrain, making the process of creating maps much easier. It also features items which can be placed down anywhere on the track, so you can have a more unique track.
• Nintendo Hard:
  • While the official Nadeo made tracks can be very difficult it is more common for user-made content to qualify as this. It has been called "the world's most competitive racing game" for a reason. Generally competitive user-made tracks (such as those used in TM20202's Cup of the Day) require being able to memorize the track in order to correctly execute difficult jumps and turns with a small margin of error.
  • Some maps contain speed checks, jumps that are impossible to complete without high speed, which forces the player to not only succeed at previous challenges but do so without losing speed in the process. This can mean drifting through obstacles or finding a perfect line to avoid then rather than slowing down to dodge them.
  • Kacky maps go past Nintendo Hard by requiring the player to exploit glitches or provide frame perfect inputs in order to complete them.
  • Turbo's hidden Super Trackmaster medals exist intentionally up the game's challenge to this level for those who want them. These bonus medals are unlocked upon getting a Trackmaster Medal on all 200 tracks (which is already no easy task), but the kicker is that the times for these medals are done by some of the fastest Trackmania players in the world, such as Spam. Good luck winning all 200 of them, you'll really need it.
  • Trial maps are the most difficult kind of maps in the game, being constructed to tests the limits of what players are capable of. Checkpoints on these maps require extreme car control as well as extensive knowledge of the game's quirks. Even highly skilled players often weeks of practice to complete them without having to respawn dozens of times.
• Spiritual Successor:
  • Seen by most as the successor to 4D Sports: Driving, better known as Stunts.
  • Within the games, the Trackmania 2 environments 'Canyon' and 'Valley' could be seen as highly improved spiritual successors to the Desert and Rally environments from the Original era. 'Lagoon', the latest-introduced environment, can be seen instead as a spiritual successor to Island.
• Suspiciously Similar Song: The soundtrack for Coast in United uses a guitar riff that makes it sound like the theme song for James Bond.
• That One Level:
  • For players who aren't interested in competing on user-created tracks, Nadeo does have its own share of Nintendo Hard with some tracks in particular being almost keyboard-breakingly difficult.
  • Generally any track with slopes. Lose your speed at any point before jumping over them and your car is sent tumbling downwards, forcing you to restart all over again.
  • From Nations:
    • A06-Obstacle: a jumpy track with poles that is otherwise fun and simple became notorious for its last jump which is easy to screw up your landing on, especially for players trying to get an Author medal on every track.
    • D11-Acrobatic. The "Acrobatics" category is already challenging on its own with some tracks expecting players to rely on precise jumps and their timing, and this track cranks it up to eleven and has players pull their hair out trying to land on the two platforms properly by controlling their movement in mid-air and not losing speed or crash-landing into the water. It's not uncommon to hear accusations of this track's design depending on pure luck alone.
    • E05-Endurance, the final track in the game which has you go through sixty laps for an entire hour to beat Nadeo's time with little to no margin for error whatsoever.