Hot Wheels Turbo Racing

"These aren't your daddy's Hot Wheels. They're much worse."

Just because a game is targeted at a younger audience doesn't mean they can't be enjoyable. But every now and then, a game comes along that sucks no matter what your age is. Hot Wheels: Turbo Racing is a perfect example. With a younger audience obviously in mind, EA decided to keep it simple. That would have been fine, however, if the game didn't suffer from so many other technical flaws.

Like most other racing games, Hot Wheels: Turbo Racing gives you a variety of different vehicles to choose from. They aren't terribly diverse from each other in acceleration and handling, unfortunately. The tracks actually resemble the real Hot Wheels track pieces fairly well. Your car can execute some cool flips and such when flying off ramps, though it isn't as polished as you would find in say...a snowboarding game. There also aren't many courses available to play from. Only four, which is also a disappointment. The game has a championship mode which you can play to unlock new cars, though it's pathetically simple to do so.

So what's the other big problem with this game? The controls. Seriously, the controls are incredibly flawed. It's nearly impossible to turn no matter what vehicle you're using, and reversing your direction can be a real pain. Also, the tracks are littered will glitches that will make your Hot Wheels slip through. Probably the main excuse for such nasty control is that the courses themselves are extremely simple to navigate. The game contains no substantial turns, really. There are a few upgrades littered about each track, but none of them really enhance the gameplay.

Graphically, this game can be taken two different ways. For one, it does a good job of replicating the plastic world of Hot Wheels. On the downside, the tracks lack any texture whatsoever. That's right, there's practically ZERO contrast on the tracks, and the cars themselves look more like Play-Doh than Hot Wheels.

The music is pretty much unnoticeable. There's no irritable-yet-catchy "Hot Wheels to the Rescue!" theme going on. The sound effects are also pretty limited. No big explosion sounds occur, even when your car does suffer a massive explosion.

In conclusion, Hot Wheels: Turbo Racing is a fairly mediocre racing experience. Even young fans of the die-cast vehicles won't find much to like here. Have them play Mario Kart or Crash Nitro instead, as they're much more refined non-serious racing experiences.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 08/11/05