It's been a fair while since the first Grid gave me the warmest of racing sensations, pushing a battered racer around a street circuit with the bumper hanging on by a stubborn rivet.

That was 11 years ago on the PS3 and a lot has changed. Globally, anyway. The game itself hasn't really been moved on much at all. Sequels Grid 2 and Grid: Autosport barely shifted matters forward, but you'd expect something special with its first incarnation on current-gen consoles.

Not so much. I mean hell, it's a solid representative of the genre: reasonable stack of cars, reasonable stack of tracks, online bits and bobs (although no split-screen local option, which is very disappointing).

The hook with Grid is the ability to... well... cheat.

By manipulating time.

You know, like the professionals do.

Take a bad line into a curve and end up in the gravel? No prob, Bob, hit the button and watch time reverse, then drive it better. I can't guarantee the bodily fluids excreted while your car went sideways will do the same, however.

Of course, you don't have to use this feature, but I've had my fair share of drivers tip my rear corner as I've headed into a bend, throwing me sideways clearly through no fault of my own. So it's nice to know there's a leveller when others don't play nicely.

This model also introduces the 'nemesis' system which means if you dust up a driver too much during a race, he'll try to smack you one in return. Fair's fair, I suppose, but in reality apart from your glum South African assistant in your headpiece warning you've made an enemy, he doesn't become much more than an irritating red icon on your screen. Certainly I didn't notice too much red mist in the driving styles of those I irritated.

Fernando Alonso also turns up for a cameo, albeit an insubstantial one. Race him, beat him, move on with your life.

It's pretty standard stuff online. Set up a race or join a quick-launch system. It does take a smidge longer to sort a race out than I'd like but it's nothing too taxing.

So Grid's good, it's fine, it's a solid wheeze. I wanted more from it, but you can't deny it isn't a decent racer. It never feels as fast at the PS3 original, though.

If only we could turn back time...