This is a typical street racer where gangs of driving thugs roam the thriving metropolis of Angel City. Remember back when miscreants just robbed old ladies and beat up preppies? You want in on this action, but you'll have to scratch and claw for every bit of respect. You'll also have to use your cellphone, shop for spoilers, and avoid damaging your rivals.
The race types are varied, and there's only one I didn't like: "show-off," where you're trying to execute complicated spin tricks on a narrow road. The others are much better, and Juiced is set up so you can choose which types you want to actually compete in. Enter a point-to-point contest, a multi-lap race, or watch as your car magically turns to manual transmission for the drag-racing Sprint showdowns. Even arcade mode mixes things up a bit.
The learning curve in Juiced is slightly steeper than other racers. What's odd is that you'll do better if you don't listen to the onscreen hints while you race. When it says to slow down, keep up your pace. When it says to break, use your nitro boost to power around corners. Once you embrace your nonconformist side, you'll do just fine, and will likely embrace the on-track action.
Each car has a certain class number, and that dictates which competitions you can enter. You'll have to be careful not to over-upgrade your ride, or you can go from being a kick-ass 5-class to an also-ran class 4 car. It's also a costly pain in the butt to try to bring your vehicle back down a class.
Besides that little tuning malfunction, tweaking your car is at the level I want in a racer. The number of aesthetic enhancements you can make is especially entertaining. And besides, there's a lot of fun to be had in keeping a variety of cars and classes in your collection, so you're always having to vary your strategy. It reminds me of what I like about the Gallop Racer series, believe it or not.