Gameplay
If talking about the cars behaviour - in my opinion it mostly remains the same as in ManiaPlanet, with exception of Valley - the car is way easier to control on dirt roads. Canyon is mostly unchanged, Stadium may feel a bit different for others, but for me there isn't such difference. New Lagoon car might look so oversteer and hard to control, but it's not in the case - car is very easy to steer, wooden platforms behave like ice, rollercoaster magnetic roads have their limits (car can fly off the outside loops on high speeds) and sand is just Stadium dirt. Lack of camera 1 is trouble for some players that used to use it, but I only played with this view in Valley (because car is damn big and I can't see the road). Hopefully Nadeo will patch it in the next update. The Stunts variant of Time Attack mode is extremely enjoyable, air control gives so much satisfaction and the turbo boost on demand is just the essential feature of this game. What's kinda weird is that you can't access a global list of records per map to fight the WRs. Lack of gamepad controls adjustment at first was a hard barrier to break, but after some hours I forgot about my old binds (although I'll change them with next update anyway to match my ManiaPlanet settings). Game still doesn't have XInput support, which forbids using both analog triggers at the same time. Also, just like in all other TrackMania games, triggers work like digital buttons.
Multiplayer modes
The rooms thingy is a nice feature, it's just a few clicks before you can play your own maps with buddies - way easier than creation of dedicated servers. No option to change room name makes all rooms look the same in the server list - you can't really recognize which room is more interesting than others and you'll finally join a buddy or the most populated room. As mentioned before, Stunts are the essential feature of TrackMania Turbo. Nice thing are also challenges, where you can pack some maps into a playlist and challenge your buddies and completely random players and any maps you want. I have also tested the Double Driver mode, and I'll say that it's fun and challenging, as both drivers need to synchronize their controls in order to drive the map correctly and fast. I don't really see much sense for the Arcade mode, I used it only to play some maps with Stunts thing turned on. I see this mode more useful for families that want to play the game on one account and fight for the best times. Somewhere devs mentioned that maps available in Arcade are unlocked with campaign progression, but it looks like only black maps are locked. Split Screen haven't changed much in comparison with TrackMania 2, it's still shit rounds mode, but at least all bugs are fixed and interface looks way better. Hotseat - just like Split Screen - is exactly the same, but time is represented as fuel, which drains faster than time in previous games. Monoscreen thing is kinda weird, it's extremely hard to control your car, so it's just a nice addition to break friendships when someone wrecks your car just before finish line.
Customization tools
Let's start with garage - I feel like I'm the only one person that likes the concept of the skins, that's featured in TrackMania Turbo. Having all the cars with the same models makes the game look solid and clean - I'd hate seeing ugly Sonics and Multiplas running over the tracks. Also - the unlocks make you want to play the game more, to discover all the paintwork and stickers. It's just perfect in my opinion. Secondary we have the map editors. Random map generator is a great addition to the game - most people are complaining that "it's pointless for users to create own maps if generator will make infinite amount of tracks for them". Nothing more wrong - generator is making completely unplayable maps, which will make you happy not if you beat time on them over and over, but when you at least finish these craps without crash on the first curve. The TrackBuilder 2.0 (that's how they call the console map editor) is good for beginners, console users and players that want some simple tool for tracks creation. If you click the gear icon you can switch to classic ManiaPlanet editor, which honestly is the best option on PC, in the case you want to make professional maps. It's also missing some blocks seen in official campaign maps, objects mode (these are flying pigs, donuts, matryoshkas, etc.) and most important - map name change. Your tracks will be saved as "dommy54 #0" and so on. Also, you can't easily download the maps ingame, which is an important thing missing - only way to get maps is player page. A big disappointment for many people is lack of dedicated servers for PC. We can still access rooms, but its not the same. What was a really big an positive surprise - we can save replays just like in ManiaPlanet and edit them later in MediaTracker (called replay editor) in settings gear menu. Replay editor itself is a bit limited, it lacks such things as TrackMania Original / Sunrise key feature - light trails. But it's at least there. Last but not least - you can go to the Mix menu and select which soundtracks you want to enable / disable during gameplay.
Interface and the universe
TrackMania finally got a good looking, easy accessible interface that has its own spirit. A lot of animations, intensive colors and many other aspects give the game really nice look. You can find what you want in just a few clicks. The game itself is probably ManiaPlanet 4, that runs on a custom title pack. You can spot many ManiaPlanet aspects in the PC version of the game - status bar with time, window controls, volume sliders and advanced options. From there you can change graphic settings, edit keyboard bindings and access replay / map editors. The environments have changed a lot in comparison to TrackMania 2 - they have a personality, more sounds, some new blocks, flashy screens. Flying birds are now a separate block, which also has dynamic sound. In the Turbo universe, track are build by the TrackBuilder machines, cars are powered by NadeOIL, Stadium International Time Attack Formula is hosting competitions in the biggest fictional Stadium in the world, Valley has some historical landmarks. Loading screen tips give some trivia about gameplay, some funny quotes of various characters and information about the universe itself. While playing the game, music changes loops on each checkpoint pass. When engine is off, there is also a special loop in every soundtrack just for this situation.
About UPlay
I don't understand why everyone complain about the UPlay in the game. If you buy the game through Steam, UPlay is only just a launcher for the game, where you just need to log in and forget about it. On the website you can easily add buddies that have connected their Steam / PSN / Xbox Live accounts to UPlay. It's completely invisible in the final game, probably only one opportunity to see it is when you earn achievements.
tl;dr
After all, I think Turbo isn't perfect - it lacks some important features from ManiaPlanet, but as it's made for casuals and console players, so I can understand these moves. For me, Turbo is the game to enjoy after school / work, when you don't have so much energy to do productive things in ManiaPlanet. After checking all the pros and cons, my final score is:
EDIT: After my discovery that there is no sticker with number 54, my final score is:
0 / 54 (DominoScaleâ„¢)