It's great for getting the feel of the city streets, as there are lots of back alleys and shortcuts that'll give you the edge in the heat of a race. There's no time limit and no competition, just a leisurely drive through the city. Of course, you can spice things up a bit by turning up traffic, pedestrian, and police car density. Also, in all events, you may choose the time of day and weather. Pure arcade racing is what you'll find in the remaining three race modes.
Races start off easy enough but get progressively harder toward the end.
Well, get used to it because you'll be bouncing off just about everything while your opponents seem to keep a straight racing line toward the finish. It can get annoying, but it's nothing you can't overcome. Blitz race mode challenges you to finish a race within a certain amount of time. You may take checkpoints in any order, but the arrow will always point toward the nearest checkpoint. Knowing shortcut locations come into play here as following the arrow won't always be the fastest way to finish a race.