The macosxhints Rating:

[Score: 9 out of 10]
One of the nice features in Redline Racing is the constantly-updated Redline Hall of Fame. Set a record on a challenge or track, and your name, lap time, car, and date are recorded for all to see. So not only are you competing against the game, but against the global population of players to set track and challenge time records. At the moment, my name still remains atop some of the challenge sections, but I would expect that situation won't last -- I'm about 20 years too senior to be doing this all that well :).
If you're coming to the Mac from Xbox or PC gaming, the graphics in Redline Racing probably won't blow you away -- the polygon count won't set any records, and the backgrounds are simplistic. However, it's these relatively simple graphics that let me run Redline Racing in full resolution, just as with Nascar Racing. I just find the experience so much more immersive with sharp graphics on a large screen; that's why I'm willing to give up some of the details.
The physics seem decent to me -- keep in mind my only read-world basis of comparison is a few track sessions in various vehicles (and marginally-legal fun in snow-covered parking lots during my youth in Colorado). Turn into a corner in Redline and punch the throttle on a high-powered vehicle, and the back end steps out -- perhaps all the way out if you're overly aggressive with the throttle. Rain and snow covered roads are slick, and the four wheel drive vehicles handle differently than do the front- and rear-wheel-drive cars. Burnouts, skid marks through corners, and cars that are capable of flipping complete the fun.
Small touches abound, from the very speedy and easy to use interface to the click-to-change car color selector ... to an image of a radio that appears complete with artist and song info when iTunes changes tracks. You'll want a steering wheel and pedals to get the most out of the game. It seems to work just fine with my ancient Logitech Wingman Formula Force, though the force feedback drops out at times (I believe this is an issue with my wheel, not the game -- it may be time to retire this particular input device).
What's not to like? I don't believe there's any damage modeling, so you can just go ahead and bounce that $250,000 Diablo off the guard rail at 180mph and keep right on driving. Some of the cars (hello, Maserati!) seem just a tad too tail-happy to be believable -- touch the throttle at the wrong spot, and you're facing backwards. Finally, for me at least, the biggest drawback is the lack of a true in-car view. This is something I really appreciate in a racing game (and it's included in Nascar 2003), and which makes the whole experience that much more immersive. I dislike the "flying with speedo/RPM overlays" view, so I've settled on the chase view as my favorite ... but it's nowhere near as much fun as sitting inside a modeled vehicle with working gauges. Oh well...
Overall, I'm quite happy with Redline Racing, and it's the best $25 I've spent on a simulation game in quite a while. It may not meet the needs of hardcore gamers moving from other more racing-happy platforms, but I think it's a fine effort.
Mac OS X Hints
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20060925125626874