Hot Wheels: World Race
THQ
Genre:
Racing
Players:
1 - 2
Type/#:
DVD
/
1
Overall Rating
90
%
Graphics and Sound
Hot Wheels recently released a five episode cel-shaded cartoon called
World Race. Now that all five episodes are out, THQ has released
the game. Though the story of the game is slightly different than the
series, most of the concepts are still there and Hot Wheels: World
Race comes off as a good, solid racing game.
Though this game doesn't sport the same cel-shaded graphics of the
cartoon (for some reason), what's here is done very well and far exceeds
what I have seen in most Hot Wheels games. The vehicles look just
like they do in the show and the complex tracks don't give you that odd
deja-vu feeling. Even though the in-game graphics aren't cel-shaded, the
cut-scenes come straight out of the movie allowing a person who hasn't
seen the show to get a taste of what it is about.
The music in World Race is high powered and is great ear candy
while you weave around other cars and shoot up ramps and walls. This
game also features the song 'Hot' by Smashmouth. One failing in the
sound department is the engine noises. It seems like no matter which car
you are in, the engine sounds the same. This detracted some from the
experience, but it was only a minor problem.
Gameplay
Most of the story from the series has been passed into Hot Wheels:
World Race the game. In the show, a genius by the name of Peter
Tezla has discovered a series of tracks created by an ancient race of
people known as the Accelerons. Tezla has named these tracks Highway 35.
He has gathered 35 people together and broken them up into five
different teams. These teams are the Wave Rippers, Scorchers, Road
Beasts Street Breed and Dune Ratz. These people are to race on these
hidden raceways hoping to gain the title of the world's best racer.
Tezla has charged these drivers with finding an object known as the
'Wheel of Power,' which is at the end of Highway 35.
And even though there is no Wheel of Power in the game, the vehicles and
some of the tracks come directly out of the show. When you first start
off, you will have only a few vehicles to choose from, but as you
progress through the game you will unlock new vehicles, tracks and
gallery objects.
There are several modes in Hot Wheels: Challenge Mode, League
Mode, Multiplayer Mode, Quick Race and Time Trial. The meat and bones of
this game lies in the League Mode. Here you will progress through three
different difficulty levels (Rookie, Veteran and Expert), each with
different requirements to progress to the next race. For example, in the
Rookie mode, you need only to complete the race to progress, but in
Veteran, there are many instances where you have to finish in second or
third place.
Time Trial and Quick Race are just what they sound like. If you don't
feel like committing yourself to a league series of races, then choose
the Quick Race option. Or, race against the clock in the Time Trial.
The Challenge Mode acts as a training mode for the game. Here you will
learn five basic concepts that you will use time and time again. You
will find out that to earn Nitrox2 you need to either grab yellow rings,
or perform stunts in the air. You will also grab burning wheels to open
up shortcuts in the track, as well as use your Nitrox in order to reach
shortcuts.
The Multiplayer aspect splits the screen so that you and a friend can
race in any of the unlocked tracks with any of the available cars.
The handling of the cars was pretty dead on when you considered each
vehicle's stats. There were some moments when the performance of the car
out right surprised me. For instance, there was one car that felt rather
slow but when I came in second place in the Veteran League, I was
impressed.
Difficulty Level
Hot Wheels: World Race has some well balanced difficulty
settings. The three leagues -- Rookie, Veteran and Expert -- seem to be
set at just the right level. When going through the Rookie mode, I found
it easy to take first or second place. But when I started in the second
league, I found it to be a real challenge to meet the requirements of
the courses. I just barely made it out of this setting. Once I found
myself in the Expert level, I advanced in the league only occasionally.
Game Mechanics
Most of the controls in Hot Wheels: World Race are similar to
those of other racing games. You accelerate with the X, steer with the
Left Analog stick and break (or power-slide) with the Circle. Once you
have built up your Nitrox2, you can release it with the R2 button. You
can perform two different stunts in the air, tapping the D-pad to cause
the car to roll or flip does these.
Hot Wheels is a solid racing game with some challenging aspects.
You don't need to know anything about the series to enjoy the game, but
if you have watched it then you will get a better experience.
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