Oh, the art of timing. Sometimes a game's release date can really tell a story behind it. Remember when Metal Gear Solid 2 was coming out in Christmas 2001, hot on the heels of 9/11, and controversy was set to follow? It instead turned out to be a quality sequel and one worth owning. However, not good on its timing of release was State of Emergency. Rockstar expected the game to really capture the GTA buzz, and instead the game became an over bloated nightmare, limited by its own failures in terms of gameplay.

Now Juiced enters this particular category, even if it belongs in a different genre than the aforementioned titles. The story behind it is a fascinating one, as the game was actually an Acclaim project before the company deep sixed into bankruptcy Armageddon. However, THQ rescued it, figuring it to be a quality project. Now a full year later, we see it, and it is indeed a quality ride, but you can't help but feel its timing is off since we already have Need For Speed Underground and Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition to give us underground racing thrills.

That's not to say the game is lacking. Juice Games has done an impressive job re-tweaking the game to make it much more serviceable than it was in Acclaim's camp. It features many modes to choose from including a stylish Career Mode, a fun Cruise Mode, the typical arcade mode, a decent drag mode, a checkpoint race, or a "show off" competition where you try to perform tricks with your car. They're of the basic street racing variety, but they all have their merits, as well as a neat betting system that eventually lets you set up races for pink slips. Win and you get yourself an opponent's ride. Lose, and you start from scratch. The stakes are high.

The game is equally impressive on Xbox Live, where multiple racers can take part in high-stakes events and even win or lose cars online. This allows for a set-up of a huge community, and THQ has done nice work with the Xbox Live support. Multiplayer is not as significant offline, but it has its moments.

As far as the game's appearance, it's solid enough. The cars look impressive to the point that they seem like the real thing, right down to the sparking that comes from scraping off a wall on a bad turn, and the tracks have plenty of twists and turns. The soundtrack is also an impressive bunch of tunes, aside from some alternative rock sessions that seem to lean towards the EA Trax side of things, and the sound effects solidly deliver.

What I was really impressed by with Juiced is the game's wealth of customization options. Like other games, it allows you to trick out your ride with new parts so you can make it your own. However, unlike in other games, you can actually over-trick your ride by mistake, knocking your class down a level. This is a nice touch, and a message to those who think they need everything on a car. You simply do not. However, some of the over-detailing in the game got on my nerves. For instance, the on-screen prompts that flash during the race, telling you to "slow down" or "brake now" aren't really that helpful and will probably distract rookie racers quite easily. Also, as nice as it is to see a team element in a game, it's not really a great move throwing AI drivers into the mix to take control of your ride. They're not that good, really. They should stick to the pits.

Like I said, there's nothing really wrong with Juiced's production values. It's really come a long way from being just another cloned racer, but the timing is off. Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition pulled up months ago and introduced new concepts to the underground racing circuit, and if that's not enough, we still have the Need For Speed Underground games to keep us occupied. Both feature plenty of deep modes and customization tricks to the point that spending another $50 on Juiced is kinda out of the question. $20, I may understand, but not $50.

If you're some kind of car customization freak or you can't get enough of underground racing, Juiced is more than worth a rental. But I can't recommend a purchase because, as cool as it is, there's better rides out there, and I'm still in the driver's wheel of a couple of them. It's all in the timing, and I guess some of the juice spilled along the way.