Hot Wheels Stunt Track Challenge – XB – Review

When I was a kid, I favored Matchbox cars versus
the HotWheels brand. I think it was the wheels themselves. However, no
one could match the lineup of cool accessories and futuristic cars they offered.
In the realm of off-the-wall cars, HotWheels has always been the leader. I have
not played any of the previous HotWheels video games, so this was my
introduction to a series of toy-car adventure. THQ has now brought us
HotWheels Stunt Track Challenge. It’s a racing game with various challenges.
None of them very engaging.

You can play in "Game Show" or "Arcade" mode.
Game Show mode provides a lot of action– but considering it’s not very hard,
the thrill burns out fast. The objective of the various modes is to unlock
tracks and car upgrades. Exciting, mind-numbing thrills like NEW DECALS.
I could hardly contain myself as I was overwhelmed with how many different ways
they can draw flames. Oh, the choices!!! The cars themselves do not get
much of a boost. I did not see much difference with the upgrades, which made
unlocking the levels more and more unfulfilling. With similar games, car
upgrades usually make it more rewarding, but with the HotWheels game, the
enhancements were so minor they were barely noticeable. Sure, there are more
snazzy decals and wheels to pick from, but speed and handling did not seem to be
an upgrade. Still, I felt some sense of gratification as I progressed through
the track levels.

The general objective of the whole thing is to
drive fast, avoid bad objects, and collect good ones. You can earn "boosts" that
give you a quick turbo-thrust when needed, or do fancy spins for bonus points
when the objective is to do so. The various tracks dictate the way they are to
be played. Some are a flat-out race to be #1, but some are stunt shows for
glamorous points. You could describe this game by taking a "Tony Hawk" review
and substitute the word "skateboard" for "racecar"…. and the review would
sync.

I liked making a bright blue car with minimal
graphics. With very few exceptions, this same configuration suited me well for
most of the game. You can do a racing car, a more "muscle" type or a custom
truck-style car. Such selections are mind-boggling.

The sound is mediocre. The music is barely a
factor at all. It’s a generic, heavy metal aggressive "thing" that plays in the
background and is thankfully subtle in the default setting. There is a hip dude
in the background that shouts clever things at you like warnings about rocks,
and other such informative jargon. The car sounds themselves are generic as
well. The whole sound scheme seems to have been pulled from a public domain
track listing of "sounds to create _____ by".

The graphics are not bad, though they fall far
short of what I have seen done on an Xbox. They seem almost as clean as the best
graphics I have seen for the PSOne. Good, but not great. There is a huge color
palette for creating your own car scheme, and the background scenes are nicely
done. Action happens so fast that it is hard to appreciate all that is going on.
That is a good thing. If it were totally boring, all you’d so is sight-see when
you should be racing.

This is not a bad game at all. It is just
far short of interesting for anyone with much racing experience– in age or
platforms. You steer a very fast car along tracks that are very surreal and try
to win each race. With a few hours of play, you should have the physics down
well enough to succeed without much difficulty at all. It’s a shame that the
rewards (upgrades) do not do much to enhance the game itself. Unlocking the cars
and tracks does not do much for you– once you realize there isn’t much of a
difference as you progress. Young players will get a lot more out of this than
older gamers. For kids, there is a lot to "wow" over in this game, but for
seasoned players, it is nothing better than games we played years ago on our
Super Nintendo.

Review Scoring Details

Gameplay: 6.0
Drive fast, steer clear of (bad) objects. Both tasks are relatively easy to
do. You have to get Power-Ups to get through some of the challenges, but
that is rarely difficult to do. Sometimes, it will take several tries, but not
more than that. It’s easy to figure out and get going. This is one game where a
manual is not required.

Graphics: 6.5
I have seen PSOne games that almost look as good as this one. Of course, the
graphics are far more advanced than that, but considering the ability of the
system, I think they could have done much more with the power.

Sound: 5.5
The mundane music track is forgettable and not a factor– good or bad. The
voice-over is not hip and cool, which is the obvious intent. Instead, I was
physically replying (out-loud) "SHUT UP!" to the TV.

Difficulty: Easy
Unless you’ve never played a racing video game before, this will be child’s
play. There is some fun to be had, but considering how low-brow the whole
scenario is, there isn’t much reward in unlocking upgrades.

Concept: 5.0
I think I saw the idea for this game on a commercial one Saturday morning
(during Bugs Bunny) in 1975. Race your car through some gnarly tracks
with scary loops and finish in first place.

Overall: 6.0
The thrill is minute with more experienced players, but might keep young
gamers enthralled much longer. The cars are easy to "drive", which makes it very
friendly for a lesser skilled player. In that aspect, there will be a lot of
fun for someone. But, if you have done some racing with a few different
games, this will get old– fast. A low price point and a young player are a good
mix. Otherwise, steer clear of this collision-course adventure. Flash,
Flare… but lacking the Fun.