Game: Mini Motor Racing X
Genre: Racing, Action, Arcade
System: Nintendo Switch (also on PS4 and PC)
Developer|Publisher: The Binary Mill | NEXTGENREALITY
Age Rating: EU 3+ | US E
Price: UK £15.49 | EU € 19,99 | US $19.99
Release Date: September 17th 2020
Review code provided with many thanks to NEXTGENREALITY
Racing Games
From my perspective racing games appear to follow one of two paths. They’re either driving simulators with realistic cars and physics set in sort of realistic interpretations of places like the UK. Although, last time I drove around the countryside I didn’t see many racing cars driving around! They are this or they are Mario Kart. As much as I like Mario Kart it’s nice to have something different. Ideally a racing game that has that balance of fun for casual racing games but doesn’t feature Mario and his buddies. Mini Motor Racing X appears to be a game that takes on this mantle and succeeds
Start Your Engines
Mini Motor Racing X is a racing game with the options you would expect to see in this genre. You can jump in for a quick race or if you have a bit more time to spare you can jump into the career. Here you can take on various cups each of which encompasses 4 tracks. Completing these circuits won’t take long and will net you some money which you can then use to upgrade your vehicle. This makes things just a little more progressive as you work through the cups. You can simply race against other cars with the only power up at your disposal being a boost or nitro as they call it in game. But hey, if you really want the Mario Kart fix there is X mode which throws in power ups like mines and spanners that you can fling at your opponents to try cheat your way to victory. Each mode was a lot of fun to play and better still, any progress made in the standard mode does carry over to the X mode. It really feels like a arcade you can play to your liking.
The good news for casual fans is that the game comes with multiple difficulty settings from easy to hard. Additionally the game does not penalize you for playing on the easier settings. You can still win the same amount of money whether you finish a cup on easy or hard. I much prefer this model with difficulty as it means you can tailor the game experience to your liking. Some days medium was the way to go, but, after some rough days at work, easy was just fine for me too.
Simple Effective Controls
The controls are solid and effective. One button to accelerate and one to break. The handling of the cars is excellent. The veteran racing gamer may find things have been simplified a little too much. For me though this is one of the first racing games since my retro days where I felt in full control of the vehicle. There are also a few control options available. You can choose to have the car accelerate automatically if you want to simplify things further as well as adjust the cars sensitivity if things don’t feel quite to your liking. Whilst you can use touch controls to navigate the menus in handheld mode you can’t use gyro or motion controls to control the car Not a problem for me but I know there are fans out there that won’t be pleased.
A Different Perspective
By default, races play from a dynamic isometric camera angle. You can instantly switch to a behind the car perspective and even a cockpit perspective. I actually found it quite enjoyable playing around with these camera angles, though I mostly stuck with the isometric since it reminded me of the older retro racers. Whichever you choose it doesn’t feel like it hindered the gameplay or controls.
Loads of Tracks
From the get go I was kind of blown away by how many tracks are on offer here – we’re talking over 50. The vast majority of tacks are short and sweet. So short in some cases you usually have to complete 4 or 5 laps to finish. These small bite sized track sizes are ideal if you just want to dip in and out of the game.
As well as racing about you can also dive into a few arcade modes. One of these is Bumper Ball which has you play car football where you need to push a giant ball into the opponents goal. In this it shares a striking resemblance to Rocket League with the exceptions that you can’t jump and waste lots of money on micro transactions. Additionally you can play Micro Motor mode which has you play a quick race, only all the cars are shrunk down like micro machines leading me to believe this game takes more inspiration than expected from that old franchise. I used to enjoy that on the Mega Drive. There’s also Time Trial mode and Custom mode. The later being quite interesting as it essentially lets you create and customize the game to your liking. Here you can choose the tracks and number of laps as well as customize your opponents AI and even their individual car stats. Basically you can create the game to your liking and that’s pretty impressive.
A Friendly Looker
The graphics feel like friendly versions of real cars placed on semi realistic backgrounds. There are a variety of themes to visit with a pumping arcade soundtrack to accompany you as you slide round the tacks. There are also a variety of cars to unlock and add to your garage. If you’re a fan of cosmetics you’ll be pleased to know you can change the colour of your chosen car if you feel the standard is not radical enough to your liking.
The game can be enjoyed split screen with up to 4 other players, though only 2 can take on career mode together. But if online is your thing that’s also available. Unfortunately during the process of review I was unable to find a game to test this. But you may be pleased to know you can invite friends to your game without necessarily risking the random racers online.
A Race to Remember
Mini Motor Racing X was a pleasant surprise. It took me back to the days of playing Micro Machines on my Mega Drive. Fun, simple arcade gameplay that does the trick for gamers with not a lot of time to spare. Tons of tracks as well as fun extra modes make this a great racing package worth playing alone or with a friend in split screen. I didn’t think I would ever be won over by a racing game again to this degree but here we are. Good job developers!
Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up!
