So I played through the classic mode in this game. And as a fan of the original I think hangar 13 did a great job.
A great job in making this game fun and beautiful.
Do understand that a lot of options from the original disappeared. Levels are less open for you to experiment. There's much more handholding and cinematic experience added. But it didn't bothered me as it was still challenging and fun to play through. Bugs can be annoying though. I saw visual glitches, no sounds in cinematics, enemies with god mode on, 60hz fullscreen, button remaps that couldn't be done, etc... but I got over it somehow. Not worth €40..maybe €20-30? So buy it on sale.

PS: The race took me 21 tries. The biggest tip I can give you is hang back for a crash to appear (every round AI crashes) - everyone brakes and you can try to better your position at that moment) last round you should be 2nd or 3rd with the first guy crashing and you can take 1st place.