The last racing game I spent major time with was set on Tatooine. When playing GTA IV, taxi riding-based achievements were the first I unlocked. In other words, I’m not really the target audience when it comes to the Need for Speed franchise — which is too bad because it goes out of its way to be accessible to players like me.

Need for Speed: SHIFT is designed for scalability. On one end of its spectrum is a realistic racer where die hard drivers can tweak their cars to get the performance and handling they desire. My end of the spectrum is more like a glorified Pole Position.

And that isn’t an exaggeration. My preferred perspective was an HUD-less third person one, not the realistic in-the-cockpit view where you can see the game’s physics engine punishing the driver.

After a test run found that I shouldn’t be subjected to realistic damage, challenging AI, or anything else which might hurt my racing self esteem (even down to shifting – so there goes the game’s subtitle), I started my racing career.

My first race out got to a bumpy start — which works since ramming other cars is a legitimate strategy. SHIFT has a leveling system where you earn points for precision or aggressive driving. So you can force opponents off the track or cleanly pass them while staying along a glowing guideline showing the optimum placement for your car.

Leveling your driver up opens up new car and race opportunities, but winning is all that matters since you want to earn stars to move to the next racing tier. The goal is to advance to the prestigious NFS Live World Tour. Along the way, you compete on a combination of real world tracks and ones created for the game across three continents. Doing well leads to special invitational events and you can always elect to do a quick race from the main menu or jump online.

The core racing experience is what I expect from an established franchise’s entry on a modern system. Tight controls, photorealistic graphics and accurate sound. With over 60 cars available and over 15 real-world locations, Need for Speed: SHIFT offers a complete experience.

And it’s an experience which doesn’t get repetitious. The invitational races often give drivers access to cars outside their tiers – and there’s more than just simple races available. Time trials, elimination races and duels against rivals offer great variety.

If there’s anything I didn’t like about the game, beyond slightly buggy replays which would occasionally cycle into an endless loop, it’s that impatient players can shell out real world dollars (via Microsoft Points) to purchase the cars they want instead of saving up in-game currency.

Xbox 360 version reviewed. Also available for the PS3 and PC.