Micro Machines World Series

Verdict

When you think about smoothly drifting a corner at full speed, caught up in the pack, and looking for that sweet spot to break away from the crowd, you probably don’t imagine the next corner will have an electric hand mixer that’s spilled strawberry icing onto the track. Nor do you target the car in front of you, ready to deliver swift justice only to fire foam Nerf darts at his exhaust pipe. However, if the idea of ramming giant Cheerios and speeding into a pool tables’ corner pocket piques your interest, look no further than Micro Machines World Series.

A disappointing homage to the Mega Drive games of yore, that emphasises all the wrong elements in terms of both gameplay and game modes.

Mixing the old with the new, it’s clear that Codemasters have tried to bring Micro Machines up to date in World Series. While there’s plenty of charm to the classic racing and elimination mode, I feel they could have gone even further with the ideas in Battle mode and the variety of vehicles and weapons that it contains, bringing these back to the classic modes.

It’s been eleven years since Micro Machines V4 launched for the PlayStation 2. A lot has changed in this time: online multiplayer has almost replaced local multiplayer entirely, extra content through paid DLC is now the norm, pre-order bonuses for extra advantages in-game online and of course, loot boxes that give you things you don’t want in exchange for real money. Micro Machines: World Series reminds us that not all games can be seamlessly translated into the modern age, much to fans’ disappointment.

Great fun in the short term, Micro Machines World Series just doesn't have the legs to be something you'll return to again and again. The nostalgic pull might be strong, but unless you have friends prepared to regularly play it with you, it's unlikely you'll get swept up in Micro Machines World Series for more than a few hours.

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There’s something genuinely charming and interesting to Micro Machines World Series, but whatever that is quickly drowns in repetitive tedium. Bolting Overwatch‘s sensibilities onto a game like this is a novel idea but Codemasters never leans far enough in any one direction. As a result, this feels like a shell of a few different possibilities — none of them ever making good on their individual promise.

Micro Machines World Series fails to capitalise on what makes the toys and games so great, delivering a shallow experience unlikely to hold up against any level of nostalgia you might have for the tiny cars.

Racing around overhead tracks in virtual toy cars has been enjoyable since the early '90s. Now that Micro Machines is back after a long hiatus, does it keep the fun-filled spirit of the original games alive?

Micro Machines: World Series has the presentation nailed and feels like playing with toy cars again. However, once the glitter of that presentation wears off you’ll find a game that controls way too loosely to give any kind of satisfaction and more frequently provides frustration, and furthermore nothing to really incentivize you to push beyond that without anything to unlock. To paraphrase the Micro Machines Slogan, “If it doesn’t control good, it’s barely worth playing.”

If Overwatch was a tabletop racing game, it might look a bit like Micro Machines World Series. It’s almost as if Micro Machines, as a franchise, woke up from a coma and was greeted with “its 2017 now, you need lootboxes… and skins, voice lines, and an ultimate ability that charges over time”. I know this is a negative way to kick off the review, but throughout my time with Micro Machines: World Series, I couldn’t help but think the game should have stayed true to itself rather than ...