![]() Micro Maniacsīlimey, this is a blast from the past. Nature’s cruel, but the game industry is crueller. They were acquired, made Onrush… and went straight to limbo. Gotta feel sorry for its developer, the former Motorstorn dev, Evolution Games. Trouble is, it’s confusing, complex and hard to do well at first, scuppering its chances of ever taking off (well, that and the dreadful online lag if the game didn’t choose you as host). Pitched as a racing equivalent of Overwatch, Fortnite or Rocket League, this was supposed to be the racing game you’d play when you wanted a quick-fire gaming burst of driving action. It’s not even a bad game, though it’s surprisingly dull in single-player. Hindsight is indeed a wonderful thing, but looking back, that’s surely the reason this failed so hard. ![]() Why? Because it’s a racing game WITH NO RACING. Yep, this is a comparatively new game, yet it’s been instantly forgotten. It’s a shame the camera moves to be always behind you, but that does stop people pushing left when they meant right. Best bit? The hammers, of course, echoing the rather awesome Micro Machines V3 on PS1. There aren’t enough set-pieces, perhaps, but those that are here are charming and it’s got a fun, friendly feel without feeling dumbed down. It took all of the limelight away from this game, which is actually very good! Ironically, when Codies did then secure the license again, the ensuing Micro Machines World Series turned out to be a bit of a mess and remains totally forgettable. Yes, I’d forgotten about that too, but after all that is why we’re here.īrief recap: around the time of F1 Race Stars, Codies decided it could still make its toy car racer even without the Hasbro license, and so Toybox Turbos was born. Oddly, before Micro Machines was remade, Micro Machines was remade. And not just sort of holds together, but is actually legitimately ace. With super-deformed F1 cars and their officially-licensed drivers (including Michael Schumacher and Bruno Senna, it was a pretty great era), it’s a very strange mix of fun gameplay and normally ultra-serious motorsport, but it works. In the battle for the title of ‘best kart racer that isn’t Mario Kart’, few have as strong an argument as F1 Race Stars. If only GRID’s engine was used to make a TOCA Race Driver 4… F1 Race Stars Providing the best graphics in a serious racer, amazing online play and so many racing disciplines from V8 Supercars to Land Rovers racing in the hills, it’s no wonder it topped the charts when it came out. But the icing on the cake was Xbox Live online play, which was even – somehow – copied across to the decent PS2 version.īut the OG Xbox and Race Driver 2 were perfectly matched. The story is great, Scottie (your mechanic) is the stuff of legend, and the cars are properly fragile too, unlike today’s ubiquitous soap bars. But while the first Race Driver game was groundbreaking in that sense and decently made, the sequel utterly perfected the formula. Way before GRID, Codemasters had tried making a racing game with a story – something that modern racers should really try again today (and will be attempting with the upcoming F1 2021). I can’t believe nobody talks about this anymore. ![]() ![]() Well worth the money, and you’ll support the National Video Games Museum too. Despite having gameplay that would perfectly suit 4P local play on Nintendo Switch, the name’s dead today, though you can at least play the game’s sequel Pro BMX Simulator in the rather excellent Oliver Twins Collection for the Atari Evercade (pictured), alongside a host of other Codies classics. Sure, that became a staple of ’90s racers, but Codies was doing it all the way back in Orwellian calendar digits. The bikes had inertia and there was – indeed still is – a real sense of centrifugal force as you corner on the banked curves.īut what was pretty revolutionary at the time was the inclusion of an action replay after each race. Running two bikes on a single-screen track means that detail was through the roof for the home computers of the time. The original BMX simulator was coded by Richard Darling of early Codemasters fame in 1984. ![]()
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