Life's pretty good if you're an Artic Hare. You're not bothered by the financial problems the rest of the world is currently suffering because the sub-prime burrowing market is yet to collapse in on itself; there are many different cultural pursuits to fill up your free time, with musicals like Harespray and My Hare Lady particularly popular, and there are plenty of chances for making Artic Hare snow angels. Most importantly though, unlike those stupid rabbits, who decide to build their homes right next to busy, multi-lane highways, there's absolutely no chance of ending up as road kill; but wait a minute…what's that noise? It's not the distant drone of a car engine, it's too deep for that…wait…Oh God…I know what it is…it's the voice of that guy who does the opening narration for the Motorstorm games, and it's heading this way…

Bringing Motorstorm to the PSP was never going to be an easy job. Up to this point the series has strived to make itself the epitome of the epic driving game. The perfect marriage of the breathtaking and the brutal, in terms of both its stunning natural environments and mixed vehicle contests; it is possibly the ultimate widescreen racer - and, unfortunately, expansive visuals are certainly not an option on Sony's little handheld.

It's unsurprising then that Motorstorm's first outing on the PSP shows the scars of the battle to chop it down to fit the system's physical and technical dimensions. The Arctic setting is no less wild or harsh than the desert and tropical island venues that have come before it, in fact it may be even more so, but the lack of screen space means that its' vastness and drama are often lost in a sludge of greys and browns that also leave the less flamboyant courses, of which there are only twelve, hard to differentiate between in your memory.

The eight different classes of vehicles also haven't escaped unscathed. Blocky and basic their diminutive size and simple construction makes them feel like remote controlled Micro Machines rather than the precisely designed super machines they're meant to be; while a randomness to the outcome of their collisions sometimes allows bike riders to bounce off big rigs but on other occasions causes your vehicle to dissolve into pieces in spectacular slow motion at the very hint of any contact.

So Arctic Edge is a bit rough, a bit unrefined, but that's not that much of problem, because these characteristics have always been the essence of Motorstorm's racing, and while the picture perfect scenery may be gone, the eyeball-watering speeds remain.

Driving your vehicle is a bit like steering a boat in a storm, with skill required just to keep it heading in the right direction whilst you're tossed one way then another by the undulating and unforgiving ground. Strategy comes in the traditional Motorstorm forms of different routes around each course suiting different vehicle types better - with high and dry ones preferable for smaller, lighter machines, while the bigger ones get down and dirty - and the use of your rechargeable boost to maximum effect, before cooling it down in some snow or one of the melt-water streams that criss-cross the landscape, milliseconds before it causes you to explode.

Arctic Edge's tracks also contain more than enough of the pre-requisite rollercoaster moments created by manmade enhancements to the natural environment. Tight choke-points require you to navigate your way through seemingly unavoidable collisions, steeply banked corners remain great for audacious overtaking manoeuvres, and the huge stunt-show jump ramps still lead to mid-air moments of panic, as you realise that you may be on a collision course with an unflinching outcrop of rocks, or speeding Big Rig below. Normally it would be hard to gather yourself after such moments, but the way Arctic Edge continually throws them at you one after the other means that the adrenaline is constantly pumping round your body, lubricating your reflexes like engine oil.

The main festival mode is huge, with eight tiers of events; and while you'll likely barrel through the first half of them without any retries, and possibly even the need to warm your frozen brakes, the latter fifty percent are a much tougher assignment. The standard, first-to-the-chequered-flag, races are interspersed with alternative contests such as Speed Races, where you have to make it from one checkpoint gate to the next before the timer runs out, and Time Ticker, which has every driver constantly racking up points depending on their current position, with the first to 999 declared the winner. While some of these diversions are more entertaining than others, they're placed at welcome intervals to break up what could otherwise have become a bit of a slog to the summit, and Arctic Edge also gets every mile it can out of its selection of courses, switching up variables such as available vehicles to try and ensure you never have the same experience twice.

As for the vehicles themselves, well, they remain an interestingly broad cross-section of motorised forms of extreme transport, each with their own quirks and capabilities. Of the three new comers joining the returning Bikes, ATVs, Buggies, Rally Cars and Big Rigs, the Snowplugger is basically a cooler version of the old Mudplugger, while the Snow Machine is a light contraption with appealing loose handling, and everyone, even the Big Rigs, fears the monstrous Snowcat - just think of the illegitimate offspring of a snow plough and a tank. As you progress you'll unlock three slightly different varieties of vehicle, as well as body kits for each that make them even more ostentatious. There's even an in-game reward system of 50 different badges that are present for feats such as winning a race without boosting and breaking five ice bridges.

Initially there were some issues with Arctic Edge's on-line racing, but with these out of the way the competition here is as crisp and fun as it should be, with a selection of leaderboards adding to the lasting appeal. It's a similar state of affairs if you're playing wirelessly with friends locally, although here there's also the added appeal of seeing the various contortions of your buddies' faces, and hearing their cries, as the balance of power constantly swings one way then another.

The driving game highway on PSP has recently become very busy with traffic. The likes of Gran Turismo and Need for Speed: Shift are big name, big budget titles, but Arctic Edge's developers Bigbig studios have gone off-piste to deliver an alternative that many not look as pretty but, thanks to its speed and savagery, is certainly no a rabbit in the headlights; it's hare-raising stuff. Arctic Edge is classic Motorstorm, just in cold weather gear.

Reviewed by James Hamblin for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).