Although I'm not particularly girlish in most respects, there is one area in which I match the profile of stereotypical female: I don't know the first thing about cars. I know where the gas goes in, and I could change a flat if hard pressed, but beyond that, I don't know gear ratios from gummi bears. The extremely popular Midnight Club series always seemed like too much game for me, with its licensed cars, realistic physics, and seemingly endless supply of tweaks and upgrades. Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition, now on the PSP, wasn't exactly the kind of racing I was used to, and I pretty much figured that after playing it, I'd be left feeling like a lost and clueless loser. Instead, I feel like I could take a car apart, put it back together (blindfolded, of course) and race for pinks with the savviest of the tuner crowd. See that? That's my taillights, boys. Get used to the view.

The general gameplay of the Midnight Club series hasn't changed all that much from version to version, and Dub is no exception. As always, players eager to test their lead foot can jump right into the action with a Quick Race, but the real meat of the game is its Career Mode. Players start with a so-so ride, then race neighborhood gearheads to earn money and street cred. Prize money can be used to tune a player's existing car, or even buy a new one. Optional races can be completed at one's leisure, to earn some extra green or simply get in some no-risk driving practice with a new car. As the player earns respect, new, tougher competitors arrive on the scene, and new race options are opened up. Defeating certain racers unlocks new garage options, such as specific decals, paint colors, or even car models. It's a pretty simple formula, and one that works incredibly well.

The actual racing in Dub Edition is appropriately fast and furious, taking it to realistic streets in the dead of night. The freeways and off-ramps offer the perfect race track as the streetlights become mile markers and alleyways shortcuts. Unfortunately for me and my fellow racers, realism also means that there's plenty of traffic to get in the way of the fun, not to mention cops trying to pull the plug on the whole operation. Jerks. They just don't get it. Not like me and my crew do. The attention to detail, especially where the cars are concerned, is admirable, and the animation is slicker than 30-weight. Everything runs beautifully, without a hint of slowdown or sluggishness, and the sound is equally impressive as the exhaust roars, tires squeal, and bumper meets bumper in a car-shoving crunch of metal. The soundtrack is deep and well-chosen, but doesn't exactly show a wide variety of genre. Don't expect to hear Kelly Clarkson, is what I'm saying.

The controls for Dub Edition go far beyond simple gas and brake, but are still easy to pick up and master. The game guides players gently into the world of street racing, introducing moves like turning with the hand brakes or using another racer's slipstream one at a time, and only after the player has a few victories under his belt. All of the game's controls can be mapped to the buttons according to the player's individual preference, which I found to be a huge blessing when it came to steering. The default is for the steering to be on the analog stick, which I found to be too sloppy and wild, but switching it to the D-pad soon had me out in first. This isn't arcade-style racing, but the controls and physics strike a nice balance between rewarding the experts and forgiving the rookies.

All that hard-earned prize money is bound to start burning a hole in a racer's pocket, and there's no better place to spend it than the local garage. At first, only a few low-level cars are available for purchase, but as races are won and enemies defeated, more become available. These are real cars, too, and not just ricers; some classic American muscle cars are also on hand, like a '78 Monte Carlo, or a '64 Impala. Folks with feelings of inadequacy can save up to buy the Hummer, or the more sensible players can opt for the Jetta. I personally stuck with my Eclipse. It's yellow. If there's any cash leftover after the car's been bought, there are tons of tweaks that can be made, and almost all of them affect performance in one way or another. There are the obvious performance upgrades, such as engine modifications or adding a nitrous boost, but even aesthetic changes can help during the course of a race. Making exhaust louder can intimidate other racers, for example, or the right paint job might make tuners lust after that pink slip and beg for a race. The biggest, and most pleasant, surprise for me was how easy Dub Edition made all of this tweaking and painting and upgrading. A Help menu is available at any time, and as the player cycles through all of the garage options, the menu explains what the upgrade is and what the ultimate effect of it will be. A display on the left side of the screen shows the overall performance of the current car being adjusted, so that players can see what particular areas need the most attention. Better tires and brakes will help with the handling, for example, while upgrading the clutch will lead to quicker shifts, and therefore faster acceleration. Buying and tuning the cars is a major part of Dub Edition's appeal, sort of like Animal Crossing for gearheds. There are so many cars to unlock and buy, and all sorts of neon, paint, decals, and bodywork to do, I just couldn't wait to get out there and race so I could have some spending cash. It's incredibly addictive.

It's just a shame the PSP was intent on being a buzzkill. The loading times for Dub Edition are enormous and unforgivable, and the loading screens are so frequent that any momentum the game gains is immediately squashed. Win a race? The reward is money, improved reputation, and a load screen. Go to the garage, load screen. Leave the garage, load screen. It seemed like my play time was split pretty evenly between actual gameplay and watching the loading animation. Long load times are one thing, and for gameplay this good, I'd forgive it, but not when it keeps cropping up so frequently. Sorry, Rockstar…you can have one or the other, but not both.

Another complaint, though a far more minor one, is the fact that not only do the cars not show damage, but also that crashes don't seem to adversely affect performance at all. I really shouldn't be able to win a race after T-boning a city bus, and yet, I did. In another race, my bright yellow Eclipse did a swan dive off the overpass and still managed to squeak out a victory, and while winning is a lot of fun, it just shouldn't be that easy. Still, it's a minor quibble in a game that otherwise is so mind-bogglingly good.

Midgnight Club 3: Dub Edition is a nearly perfect game for racing fans of all preferences and abilities. Detailed enough to please the greasiest of grease monkies, but gentle enough to teach the newbies, its addictive gameplay and sheer size are incredibly satisfying. Industrial-sized load times seriously impede the flow of the game, but gamers patient enough to sit through them are sure to have a great time behind the wheel.