Unfortunately I can't really give any meaningful feedback on this game because every time I try to start a race, it just shows a character parachuting down...
for my version I leaned arcade: during the race you can jump higher, it gives in game direction hints, and the whole track has a ribbon on it so it's obvious where to go. however, every hour the track changes to a different stretch of Philly roads and it can definitely highlight your point.
The art direction and sense of scale are important, and successful games seem to be quite good at tricking you into thinking the visual scope is bigger than it is, while the smaller/tighter areas are easier to navigate in-game. The real world is surprisingly huge.
(I don't want to spam my game but you can find it in my recent comment history)
That game is both completely silly and fluid AF.
It is also terrifying. Piloting a bicycle through a city at 150MPH is really something else.
One thing I felt I wanted as I goofed around with it is this: Blurry Speed. I don't know if that's what others call it or not, but: When driving in GTA:IV, there's a speed beyond which things start to get motion-blurred and smear together. I thought that aspect of the game was kind of fun.