Turbo Racing League is a new game for Windows Phone 8 that ties in with, and provides promotion for, upcoming animation film Turbo. The basic plot line of Turbo sees a power-enhanced snail follow his dreams of racing in the Indianapolis 500. The game plays with this racing theme, offering a a number of race types across nine specially crafted, snail friendly, tracks. Think of the kart racing genre, bit with snails, and you'll get the core idea and characteristics of the game.

As part of the film promotion there's also a chance to win part of a $1 million prize pool by playing the game. For the next 8 weeks, the 10 fastest racers will earn crash prizes from a $500,000 pool, and first place winners each week win a trip to Los Angeles and a chance to compete for another $500,000 in a grand finale event.

There are four types of races in the game: time trials (against the clock), limited fuel (with an ability to pick up more fuel on root), slalom (specific course to follow) and rival (head-to-head against another snail.

As you might expect from a racing game there's plenty of power ups and upgrades to be had. But, the game charms by turning paint jobs into shell jobs, and offering the possibility to add a spoiler to your shell. 

Other features of note include the ability to record "your greatest race moment (instant reply) and share with friends", optional sharing to Facebook and Twitter (show how you've pimped your shell), and leaderboards that let you see how you ranks against your friends and players from around the world.

Yes, it's fair to say that Turbo Turbo Racing League is a essentially a marketing exercise that aims to lure you into seeing a film, but frankly it's a fun game on its own merits and well worth downloading, especially as it is available for free to all Windows Phone 8 devices. 

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