Introduction:THQ has pulled Acclaims Juiced out of the wrecking yard to a find revamped life on the Xbox. It's last to the line compared to this years other Street Racers, but well see if this salvation can come in first.

The Game:Juiced like its competitors puts you in the shoes a young racer who has to earn his way up the ranks of the street racing circuit. In this case you start in the fictitious Angel City and have to earn respect from other crews and racers. It's not easy to become the number one player and Juiced has a number of challenges to prove your driving skills. Respect isn't won, it's earned.

Besides the racing aspect, the respect meter is the heart of Juiced. Depending on your courage you can raise and lower racing bets to gain or loss respect from other street racers. The games goal is simple, gain high enough respect from everyone. Since the game has no real ending or time frame you can play as long as you want without the worries of a time restraint.

You'll also have to watch your pockets and you actions because Juiced reacts in a number of different ways. Spend too much and some will thing you're being unwise with the funds, on the other hand others will think you're taking a risk and love it. Trust me it doesn't take long before you're impecunious. The best thing to do is keep it reasonable and you'll progress the quickest. Juiced also has cosmetic damage that will hit the wallet when it comes time for repairs, so like the cash-flow, you'll have to watch your moves. The using of the interactive respect meter is what makes Juiced stand apart from the other racers, and this is something we need.

Besides the career mode of proving your worth you can race multiplayer, online and off, or in the Arcade mode. Unfortunately I didn't have time to check out the online play, but the thought of racing for pinks is very inviting and if you enjoy online racing games you might want to look this way. I know it's hard with the big Forza Motorsports has recently released, but give it a shot if you like to brag.

What else does Juiced have, well. about 50 licensed cars, and different course variations. All the mods you are used to, and a pit team you can assemble to help you take victory. The handling scheme closer to realism unlike Need for Speed or the road rage, crashing through streets adventures in Midnight Club. If you want a more down to earth tame version of those games this might be the one.

The one thing Juiced lacks is the ability to free roam in career mode. Compared to other games it seems like a step below, but it could be a good thing in some eyes if you don't like the cruising aspect. The way you navigate in the game is via a calendar system and pick the days and events you want to race. You can also use a cell phone to call in challenges and although it's more like cheap advertising it still works well. This simplistic navigation system takes the leg work out of looking for competitions and gives it to you straight up.

Juiced is slick, their isn't much that could have been approved upon without become a clone of another game. The game handles and has a bunch of cool features. I'm impressed by this first outing and will have my racing gloves on for the hopeful sequel.

Graphics & Sound:Juiced turned the corner with the graphics and sound and is a little less impressive then the gameplay innovations. The overall graphics score average although they might not be as impressive as other they leave little room to complain. I admired how they went for a gritty glossed down look to give it a more realistic tone rather then overblown lighting effects and cheap tricks. For the audio I was satisfied, although I felt the car engines and soundtrack was a little below par, and that is mainly because the competing is so ferocious. Juiced won't have you ears plugged or looking the other way and that's a good thing.

Innovation:It's hard to innovative in a genre that is filled with so many similar games. Juiced manages to throw out some ideas and they all work. The first innovation and coolest feature is racing for pink slips. What else can be that intense then loosing or winning someone finely tuned machine that could of took them hours to build and modify. Racing for pinks, just like the old game Hotrod will no doubt become a feature in more racing games.

The other modes of play are a lot of fun and I really enjoyed the competition where you have to show off your driving skills by performing a number of tricks, as well as the create your own race. The other modes are typical but still keep the same level of enjoyment. It's not so much as an innovation as solid gaming. One little clever innovation is the decal option to place logos on your car. The system only uses parts that you can installed in your car, so no more faking parts, or wrongly labeling your ride, this feature makes sure everything is cohere.

Mojo:Does Juiced have the juice? Sure, there is plenty to squeeze out of THQ's resurrection of Acclaims underdeveloped racer. Juiced has just enough to make it stand out and like other street racing games with it's different aproach. Juiced has mojo, the crews are cool and the cars can be tricked out however you like.

Lowdown:We have to thank THQ from pulling this franchise from the doomed Acclaim brand because Juiced is a good, fun racing game that has some canny ideas. Although you might be exhausted from Midnight Club 3 and Need for Speed Underground 2 you should still take a moment to check out Juiced.

Gameplay: 8, Graphics/Sound: 7, Innovation: 7, Mojo: 8. Final: 7.5/10