Upon starting your first race, you get a little intro to the track (totally skippable, if you’re not into those things) complete with the overly enthusiastic announcer offering a few words about the location, while the camera pans over different sections of the circuit. It takes me back to childhood memories of playing Sega Rally or Ridge Racer in Blackpool arcades as a kid, while on holiday with my family. The music is almost uplifting and the voice exclaiming, “Hotshot Racing,” when you press the A button, just feels very Sega. Right from the start, even the title screen feels like a trip back to arcades in the 90s. Assuming you’re fast enough to hit the checkpoints before time runs out, of course. Likewise, if the AI bashes you into a barrier, you’ve got the chance to catch up. The rubber banding isn’t too obvious either, and careful management of your boost stops it ever feeling like you’re always in danger of losing a race unfairly. Cars feel light and responsive, no matter which class you choose, and every race feels exciting as the AI keeps pace with you to keep things competitive. Having spent some time with a demo version of the game, with a surprisingly large amount of content to explore, I’ve really enjoyed the almost nostalgic feeling that comes with this game, despite being more of a sim racing fan, myself. With visuals inspired by some of the Sega greats like Daytona and even Virtua Racing, and gameplay that feels somewhere between Ridge Racer and Burnout, Hotshot Racing is all-in for that arcade rush. Sumo Digital, creator of the recent Sonic Racing games, and Lucky Mountain Games have decided that arcade racers need to have their time in the sun again, and so Hotshot Racing is revving its engine on the starting grid. Thankfully, Hotshot Racing is here to change that. It’s mostly been populated by kart games, really. We’ve had Gran Turismo Sport, the Forza Motorsport games, the DiRT Rally and F1 series, even the Forza Horizon games have simulation-based handling, and it’s left the arcade side of the genre a bit unloved. Let’s face it, most of the racers of this generation have been simulations of some sort.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |