Become one of eight speed addicts that are racing to be the best racer in the would in this 90’s inspired racing game. Hotshot Racing is a 90’s inspired polygon type of arcade racer like the San Francisco Rush Ridge Racer, and Grand Turismo series.
General Gameplay
ing Hotshot Racing is a racing game that takes its inspirations from famous racing games from the 90’s with its look and feel to give it a throwback feel to the game. Hotshot Racing offers different modes to play, multiplayer both local and online and just a great racing game feel to it. The Game Visuals are truly a throwback of polygon style of graphics where everything from the cars, to backgrounds and other graphic elements are drawn in a polygon style to give it a retro style feel. Everything is done in bright and very vivid colors and easily seen in motion. The background and cars are drawn well and enough detail to see cosmetic upgrades and damage when racing. The game runs smooth and without any stuttering or loss of framerate, make it quite easy to play. Hotshot Racing does not support a colorblind mode, however as the colors are very bright and vivid to see on the screen, it is not needed for the game. In our special needs game testing, we did not run into any issues with the game or the graphics, the game is very family friendly. Audio in Hotshot Racing is also done in a 90’s style arcade racing. The standard sounds that you would expect to hear from a racing game are here, from the engines running, tires screeching, turbo being used, crowd noise, and both your character banter as well as an arena announcer talking throughout the race. The game does have spoken dialog for the characters, and they speak during the race, as well in cut scenes to explain their story. The game for the standard racing modes have spoken dialog for the characters to help tell the story of the game. Hotshot Racing is presented in both 5.1 surround sound, as well in 2.0 stereo sound and the game sounds fine in either sound environment. For those that want to better experience the game soundtrack, we recommend gamers to use a gaming headset to best experience Hotshot Racing soundtrack. In our play testing, the game has spoken dialog, there was no language or anything that would be offensive to gamers to hear and that Hotshot Racing is very family friendly for all to play and listen to. Controls in Hotshot Racing are extremely easy to pick up and play for any type of gamer. As the game is a racing game the triggers are use to accelerate and brake the car respectfully and there is an turbo button to use, the shoulder buttons are for those that want to race with a manual transmission that they can shift up or down during the race. The controls are exceptionally smooth and responsive for the game. With most racing games the controls need to be responsive and Hotshot Racing does a fantastic job of the controller settings and response time. The game can be played with the standard controller and as it is a racing game, a racing wheel is not needed to play the game (we did not at the time of the review get a chance to try out a racing wheel with the game) In our play testing, we did not encounter any issues with the game controller settings and found them to be very user friendly for all gamer types to play the game.
“A fantastic racer with great tracks, music, game modes, and characters. A deep customization of each car offers deep replay value, but where the game shines is offering both local 4-player split screen racing as well up to 8 online racing. Hotshot Racing is a must have game for any racing fans out there, hands down!”
Family Friendly
What made the 90’s such a great time for gamers were racing games. They took a huge leap from the standard linear style of tracks, bland music and sound effects and just boring gameplay. Games like San Francisco Rush, Ridge Racer and Grand Turismo Series and other games, brought life to this type of racing games. They had a great soundtrack, racing, controls, and just overall fun. The soundtrack alone as well as cars created a new fan based that became loyal fans and lead to games in the 2000’s like the Dirt, and the Forza series to continue to grow, but one of the things lost in this transformation was just the overall fun of both local split screen racing as well online racing, and this is where Hotshot Racing gets this right! From the start screen to the actual gameplay, Hotshot Racing is just pure fun. The racers that you can choose from all each have their own uniqueness about them and racing styles. The tracks are very well designed and offer a great challenge for any racer’s fans. The music is great to hear the banter of your racer as well as well the arena announcer and other racers. Controls are very responsive and the ability to make tight turns, power slide and using turbo boost are fast and easy to do in a race. There are several tracks and each track and area have their own challenges that are fun to race through. Each racer and their cars can be customized that add a lot of replay value for those that love to see visual customizations on their rides in the game. Another great aspect of Hotshot Racing is that the game offers several different gaming modes atop of the general racing mode. There is a Drive or Explode mode where you have to beat different racers and not be in last place or your car will explode, another mode is Cops and Robbers where you as the robber need to outdrive other cops, and not get caught, as the cop you must bring the robber to justice and defeat them by ramming them. Both gaming modes are really a lot of fun to play and offer a lot of gaming. Where the game shines is the ability to play both local 4-player split screen on the same console and on online. Racing games are fun, but a lot of more fun when racing against other gamers. This is where the fun part of the games come to life. Racing against other human players adds more dynamic and fun to each race and this is how truly racing games should be played. We were incredibly happy when we saw that the game offered a 4-player split screen mode and this was a great hit here in the office. Unless you are playing on a small screen, you will not have a hard time seeing the track and your car in the game. We did not get a chance to try online play, but we suspect that there will be a similar experience when playing the game. Overall Hotshot Racing is a fun game and for those that are in your gaming family that love to play racing games, this is a must have game for your digital library. The only complaint was that we wish that there were more tracks and more customizing of the cars, but these are such minor issues that do not even come close to hurting the game or gameplay. In our special needs game testing, we did not encounter any issues with the game visuals, audio, or even controller settings. Hotshot Racing is very special needs gaming friendly. Overall if you or anyone in your gaming family is a fan of racing game, then Hotshot Racing is a must have game for your digital library.
NOTE: At the time of this review, Hotshot Racing is available for free to download and play for Xbox One Game Pass subscribers.
Closing
With great levels, music, racing action, Hotshot Racing is a great game for anyone that is a racing fan. The biggest aspect of this game is the local and online play that makes this a great party game or to play with friends online. A must have game for your digital library.
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