Trackmania

Already been quite a while since I first tried the "2020" Trackmania. One of the earlier Trackmania games actually stands as one of the first "real" video games I played (not an indie Flash game or Minesweeper or sth.), so this series has always had a special place in my heart. Not that I'd ever been a particularly active player, but I feel it's at least something I can always return to.

Trackmania is a simple game. It's a racing game, which tend to be simple in and of themselves, but Trackmania eliminates any possible lingering complexity surrounding the driving. Everybody gets the same car, no upgrades, no abilities, no interaction with other people aside from seeing their incorporeal cars race alongside you. You only have your gas, your brakes, and your steering, and this allows you to focus on the important bit - driving.
You see, Trackmania is probably the only speedrunning game I have enjoyed so far, and that's because it makes it so accessible. Completing a level and getting a Bronze time is easy. A Silver might take a few tries. But as you approach a Gold (or the extra hard "Author time"), you really have to start embracing the speedrunning mindset, where a single mistake like bumping a wall or braking at the wrong time ruins the run and warrants an instant restart. On some maps, that's where the difficulty comes from, on others, you also have to watch how you take curves, manage your speed, etc. They're not difficult concepts, but everything has to be executed near perfectly and refined over dozens of runs.
While usually speedrunning would have you go look up tricks from the community, here you can always fetch some replays from the game's servers of people who are just a bit better than you, showing you areas you could improve in. So while it's possible to be stuck for a while as you struggle on the perfect execution, you will never have a problem that you don't know where you can improve.
All that's not to mention any user-created tracks, which often go crazy with jumps, loops, wall-driving, and other shenanigans.

I still have mixed feelings about some new track elements they put into the game. I enjoy the new ground types, which have more variety than older games, like the drift-oriented gravel, or slippery snow. However, I have not yet come to terms with ice tracks, which basically rob you of your steering ability. Nor do I like the track effect which literally robs you of your steering ability until the next checkpoint, and the "reactor boost up/down" effects are unintuitive as well. I think these elements increase the skill floor needed to enjoy the game, and that's not something I wish for this game, even if it's not a problem for the seasoned player.

Overall, while I'm not super excited about Trackmania, I do see myself playing it from time to time, completing a few tracks, seeing my leaderboard ranking increse and medals rack up. I would definitely recommend trying it, since it's the first and only racing and speedrunning game I care about, and I feel it's got to be special to do that. It's also free, so nothing lost if you don't like it.