There are a number of play modes to get your Ferrari fill. Arcade mode is exactly like the playing in the arcade - pick a course, automatic or manual transmission, and choose to train, drive, or race. Training has players drive with the help of a red line to show the optimum car placement around the track; Driving lets you take laps around any race track to try improve lap times, and Racing lets you race against 7 other F355s. The AI is exceptionally good (or cheap depending on how you look at it) making it extremely tough to place 1st in any race. Every turn, every gas pump, and every brake push has to be perfectly executed if players expect to get 1st place. I've come close, but haven't been able to yet. F355 Challenge is patient gamers game - you'll have to race numerous times on the same track in order to achieve perfection. It creates immediate frustration when you get place no better than when you first started after many tries, but learning to slice around corners just a tad better can increase your performance. Championship mode lets players race through all 6 tracks in a row, and Single race mode has players racing one course at a time. Placing first in races here will open up a total of 5 real racing courses not available in the arcade.

The racing physics are amazing and the tiniest of factors ensure your win or loss. Players will find themselves braking way before they normally would in a racing game, and power-sliding isn't always the best way to get around corners - it actually slows you down quite a bit. The perfect amount of brake and gas will be learned after racing through a given course, and it takes a tremendous effort to do well. There are 4 assist functions to help ease all the technical play that comes with racing in a Ferrari - stability control, traction control, anti-lock brake system, and intelligent brake system. Each can be turned on or off at any time during a race, and all help considerably in keeping your car from losing control. Players can also choose to change car settings like ride height, stabilizer, and type of springs.

To learn from your mistakes you can save your driving data to the VMU. The driving data mode gives you a complete analysis of your car's performance on the track. The mode is really cool and lets the most hardcore racing fans how to get the most out of their F355.

Part of what makes the simulation experience so real is the incredible graphics engine that AM2 has put together. The Ferrari car models and the real world tracks resemble their real life counterparts very well. Ferrari car models have transparent windows, subtle paint reflection, and a fully modeled car interior. You can not only see the driver inside the car but his hands adjusting the steering wheel left and right as he races. The tracks are sparse but nicely modeled. You might figure that the reason why F355 moves and looks so good is because of the lack of major objects in most tracks, but once players check out the Long Beach track full of high rise buildings, bridges, and skyscrapers, it becomes a no brainer that the engine is perfectly capable to handle more detail. The single player mode shows the top of the steering wheel and the drivers hands moving the wheel left and right as you adjust the controller. And every track has an amazing draw distance, no fog, and a very thin slice of pop-up - only when you're looking for it.

F355 Challenge has the ultimate 2 player versus mode. The horizontally split screens don't seem to have any detail lost sans the driving wheel found in the single player mode. It still runs at 60 fps, has the same far reaching draw distance and absolutely no fog. Players can choose from a regular versus race or a time lag race. And there is an automatic boost in whoever is in 2nd place, giving players ample chance to retake the lead. There's also a cable versus mode for a 2 DC link-up.

There are a few minor problems with F355 Challenge. During a collision with another vehicle the car will automatically try to adjust itself in the proper direction and winds up shifting your car abruptly, making it easy to loose control. The AI also recovers more quickly from crashes and spin-outs than it would for human player to recover. But aside from these minor issues, F355 Challenge is a great technical achievement. It's so realistic and unforgiving that it's not for everybody. But racing fans who won't mind a struggle on the race track are sure to enjoy every lap.