Hotshot Racing

Beautiful looking, challenging racing game that recreates all the things you love about arcade racers. Great single and multiplayer experiences to be had here.

If, like me, you’ve been waiting what feels like forever for a new Ridge Racer game to be announced, I really do recommend that you give Hotshot Racing a go. There are some elements of it that don’t quite align with Bandai Namco’s premier arcade racing series, but it lets you get sideways in a range of wonderful locations, and challenges you to carefully use your boost to remain at the front of the pack. I don’t know about you, but that’s something I’ve been craving.

The customisation does go pretty in depth in terms of the sheer volume of it. Characters just have colour palette swaps, but cars go a little further with body kit modifications as well as colour options. It helps add re-playability and depth to what would otherwise be a pretty shallow game had it released as bare bones as the arcade games that inspired it. I will also say some of the achievements are pretty funny, including one where your objective is to cross the finish line on fire, which I’m yet to do myself. Another is called “BMW Driver” which is achieved after slipstreaming behind someo...

High on speed and low on polygons, Hotshot Racing is a super-saturated, old-school ode to the golden era of early ’90s 3D racers. Drawing oodles of inspiration from acclaimed coin-op kings like Virtua Racing, Daytona USA, and Ridge Racer, Hotshot Racing is confident, quick, and boasts a cracking arcade handling model, although its tracks are mostly simple and cause it to quickly lose a bit of steam as a single-player experience.

Hotshot Racing is an enjoyable racing game that will almost certainly be enjoyed by its target audience. There isn't much content, though, and it's an extremely basic, simple game that will be extremely familiar to anyone who played racers during the 90s.

One of my fondest and earliest gaming memories back in my childhood was going to the local arcade parlor to play some classic racing cabinets such as Virtua Racing, Daytona USA, and Ridge Racer. I lament that this kind of racing game is pretty much extinct nowadays: fast-paced, with simple controls and physics, with an emphasis on colorful visuals, checkpoints, and drifting. Curve Digital and Sumo Digital’s Hotshot Racing is trying to bring the joy of retro arcade racing back. Let’s see i...

Hotshot Racing is a nostalgia-tickling delight that doesn’t have quite enough depth to keep pulling you back for any real length of time.