No other developer can make race cars drive so butter-smooth — and look so pretty while doing it. And really, Codemasters just keeps getting better at it. Its latest, Dirt 2, looks ridiculously good, handles like a dream, and is just plain fun to play.

That’s one of the main things that separates it from its powerhouse competitor, Need for Speed: Shift — Dirt 2 captures the sheer joy of racing cars fast. It’s not as serious or as real as Shift, but damn if it doesn’t make you grin more as you hurtle around the track.

A lot of elements come together to make that happen, but the first is the new “event” feel that Codies built into the game. Spectators are jammed into every corner, sponsor signs line the straights, and a festival atmosphere is everywhere you turn. Though it does seem like Codies tried too hard to Americanize this offroad racer: Fireworks detonate every time you cross the finish line, and even more stuff blows up every time you sail off a big jump. Likewise, when you load up a race, a bass-tastic “ka-pow!” explodes so powerfully in surround sound that it terrified the small children in my house. Did Michael Bay direct this game?

You’ll learn to tune out these minor tone-deaf moments because the racing itself will have you firmly in its grip. The career mode unfolds as a map of the world, where events gradually open up in locations ranging from Croatia and Morocco to Baja and Japan. But it’s all the different race types that’ll grab you (Rallycross, Raid, Gate Crasher, Land Rush, Rally, and even the X Games) and keep you flying across asphalt, sand, mud, and grass. You also earn XP for every little thing you do in a race, and leveling up drives the unlocking of events. But it’s not as compelling a system as Shift’s, which creates more tension with its Precision vs. Aggression dynamic. Still, it’s a mode you’ll happily get lost in.

Multiplayer has finally come into its own, too. Along with the well-duh of letting eight players race together in any combo of car and event, Dirt 2 also lets you set up races where opponents’ cars are ghosts and you compete simply for time. If you want to brave the Turn 1 mayhem that plagues every online racing game, Dirt 2 also tracks your impact rating so other players will know if you’re a crash-happy fool who’s best avoided. And whether you know it or not, you’ll be entering tournaments. Dirt 2 stages continuous events that you participate in simply by playing online, and whoever completes the most events, jumps, whatever over a set time period is the winner. Those are good, smart improvements.

But probably the core of what makes this game such a blast is the handling. It’s not as scientific and demanding as Forza’s, nor is it as slap-happy loose as Need for Speeds of old, but it hits a nice sweet spot between real and fun. You have to brake properly, but it’s a cinch to start and hold a slide, and whipping your rally car through a wide, sweeping turn is pretty cool. So is all the scenery. These lush environments, be they the dusty Moroccan desert or the London docks at night, are beautifully detailed and lit. As are your cars…until you get them all dirty and shred them to pieces by colliding with opponents or the wall.

After its long history of racing-game triumphs (the Colin McRae and TOCA series, Dirt, and then Grid), Dirt 2 is exactly the kind of great racing game we’ve come to expect from Codies. Cheers to them for coming through again.

On Xbox 360

+ Sets the bar for prettiness in racing games.

+ Absorbing career mode with lots of intriguing variety.

+ Dreamy handling just feels right.

? Could we cross the finish line just once without any explosions? Pretty please?

9.0