Hot Wheels Slot Car Racing PC Game Review at SCG

Hot Wheels Slot Car Racing PC CD-ROM Game with Controllers

Features:

Special Controllers that simulate Slot Car Hand Controllers
Detailed Mattel / Tyco Virtual HO slot car track
A track editor where you can design your own course
Ages 5 and up!!! (keep this in mind)
8 special detailed tracks and Hot Wheels racers
Retail Price of $29.99 with controllers included
One or Two Players (split view)

Overall Rating:

2 out of 5 tires

HW Slot Car Racing PC CD ROM Game

Another attempt at a slot car game for the personal computer. Will this live up to it's name or is it another game for the kids?

Mattel Interactive in connection with KnowWonder has come out with a HO slot car racing game for the PC. This CD-ROM is geared towards kids Ages 5 and up. You get a CD-ROM with instruction booklet and two Pistol Style slot car controllers that hook-up to the game port. The game requires at least a 200mhz multimedia computer, Windows 95 or 98, 32mb of RAM, 4x CD-ROM drive, 100mb of hard drive space, and 4mb Video Card. I am way ahead of these requirements so I didn't have any trouble running the game. How does this compare to 3D Slot Car Racing (the game that ToysByPhil created)? Read on...

This is geared towards kids so you get one of those "cartoony style" introductions that takes you into a secret basement to test out some cool slot cars and tracks created by a goofy looking guy - the ultimate slot car freak. The controllers are similar in design to the HO ones, a little bit too small for adult hands but probably just the right size for kids.

The tracks are decent designs with some obstacles such as broken tracks, boulders, cars, dinosaurs, monsters, ghosts, and whatever else you can think of. They are nice tracks to race on but the physics are not the same as if you are racing in real-life. You can run full-tilt though most of the course without coming off. The cars just tilt around the curves as if they have shocks or suspension. They do come off sometimes but not all the time, just a bit too easy and just one difficulty setting. The graphics are displayed nicely with smooth scrolling, nothing choppy.

What Fun!!! Slot Car Racing on your PC

I haven't gone through all of the tracks yet, you have to place first to go on to the next track which is eight of them in all. The track layouts are all different for each one and there a theme set to the track. The cars themselves are highly detailed but here comes the biggest flaw. Instead of trying to model them after the HO slot car line-up or a combo of the two. They are strictly Hot Wheels Die-cast designs. No clue whatsoever of the ex-Tyco HO slot cars or the new ones from Mattel. The cars use an electro-thingy to keep the cars in the slot instead of modeling a guide pin. I forgot to point out that the controllers have an extra switch that allows the car to change lanes so you can avoid obstacles and cars. The track is slotted but it gives you the feeling of slotless TCR racing. Geared towards kids so any one that can play games such as NASCAR Racing, Need For Speed, etc. will zip through all of the tracks and get bored with the game easily.

The track editor is easy enough to use but you are limited to the number of track pieces you can have. There is a good assortment of pieces but none can be modified so what you see is what you get. You can use loops, a hill track for elevation, turns, banks, etc. but all is limited to two lanes only. The big downside is you can only save four tracks at a time max. No other choices in track design such as backgrounds, etc.

Comparing this to 3D Slot Car Racing which was created by ToysByPhil but sold now by Valu-Soft, there is absolutely no match if you are looking something with good features and flexibility. The game play itself isn't half bad but its good only for the kids, you can play along but the money would be spent on a game such as Midtown Madness 2 for something more enjoyable for the older crowd. It's good for the kids to have them race slot cars without having to set-up the track but that's about it.

3D Slot Car Racing gives you better playability, many different views of the track, a highly advanced track designer with many features, and more bang for the buck compared to Hot Wheels Slot Car Racing. I would like to see Racing Destruction Set made by Electronic Arts released again for the PC, this was a great game and I think it would be a winner. I had it for the Commodore 64 when it was new, that game kicked butt with a nice track editor and awesome racing. The closest game out there is Mini Car Racing from eGames but without a car or track editor :(

Buying 3D Slot Car Racing and Mini Car Racing would give you more enjoyment and save you some cash than buying this game from Mattel, sorry but this only gets 2 out of 5 tires. Hopefully these controllers can be adapted for use with other "slot car racing games"...I might try them with 3D Slot Car Racing when I get bored.

P.S. A bonus coupon is included in the game box for $5.00 off any HO Hot Wheels Electric Racing Slot Car Set at participating stores. Coupon features the X-Treme Motocross Set which has those goofy larger size cycles with 440X2 chassis under blocks, I wish they would have use the older dirt bikes but updated the paint schemes and added a strong magnet - oh well :(

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