Hotshot Racing is the newest game from Sumo Digital and what a hit it is! An arcade-style racing game from the British developer known for the hit arcade racing game OutRun 2, as well as OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast, the Xbox 360 version of Forza Horizon 2, as well as Crackdown 3, Hotshot Racing hits the ground running as yet another fantastic addition to the racing gaming market.
Gameplay
As an arcade racing game, Hotshot Racing is very true to its genre. The game is very simple to play on Nintendo Switch, which is the version I was given to play. You accelerate with the right trigger, brake with left trigger and can steer with the joysticks or arrow keys. You can also toggle your view with X. Like OutRun 2, drifting is an integral part of the gameplay. When you drift successfully, you maintain your speed in order to stay in the lead and when you draft behind opposing drivers, you can gain speed in order to attempt an overtake to gain the lead. Be careful though, if you overtake too early, you won’t have any more cars to draft behind, so your opponents may be able to catch up and beat you at the last minute.
As with other arcade racers that this game attempts to emulate, such as Virtua Racing, and Dayton USA, the AI is incredibly aggressive and unforgiving, which makes every race, unless you’re playing on easy, feel like a true arcade racing game, where every second counts and one false move can cause you to lose the whole race.
The game offers manual and automatic transmission options, just like the games of old, as well as four different cars to choose from for each driver. There is a main Grand Prix mode, which has four different Grand Prix’s to perform in. They are The Tour, Pro Circuit, Racing Elite and Hotshot! Each have normal, hard and expert difficulties and have four different maps. There is also a 1-4 player single race mode, with modes such as Arcade, Cops & Robbers and Drive or Explode. There is a Time Trial mode and Online racing capabilities if you have a Nintendo Account, as well as Local Wireless playing. I did not try the online portion.
Features
The game has 16 different tracks spread across its racing modes. There are four different regions: Coast, Desert, Jungle and Mountain. Each has four different maps, with different track styles and names, such as The Marina, Casino Run, Temple Ruins and Ski Paradise. There are eight different drivers, each hailing from different nations. These drivers are Alexa (USA), Aston (UK), Xing (China), Keiko (Japan), Marcus (Jamaica), Viktor (Russia), Mike (USA) and Toshiro (Japan). Each character has their own brief bios and four different style cars to choose from, with each having a different specialty, whether that be Balanced, Acceleration, Speed or Drift. All the cars handle differently and truly match their specialty.
The driving in the game feels very responsive and smooth, easily some of the best mobile game racing I’ve seen in years. Hotshot Racing also offers the option to “detach the joy-con to use motion control”, which operates well, but I still prefer to use the Switch console configured together due to me being a dinosaur and not liking change all that much with my gaming style.
The art style of Hotshot Racing is undoubtedly beautiful. Utilizing a polygonal art style, like Virtua Racing before it, Hotshot Racing has a unique art style not seen in many racing games. With its simple and colorful palette, not unlike games such as The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker or Firewatch, it’s very pleasing on the eyes. While other racing games may have more detail on the cars or environments, Hotshot Racing has a throwback feel to it and embraces its uniqueness and for that, I have to praise it.
While the soundtrack doesn’t have any unqiue songs on it that make me think, “Oh, I love this track!”, it’s still a solid soundtrack that maintains a throwback feel to it. 1991 and Polygon Dreams are my favorite tracks in the game so far. I have found myself listening to them on Spotify while I go for a run.
Customization
Each driver comes with different color and style racing suits, unlocked with money you earn in races, as well as each car coming with different customization options, such as skin colors, bumper styles and wheel options, all of which are purely cosmetic and don’t affect your car’s performance at all. You earn money by performing well in races and other modes. As far as my review, there are no microtransactions, which is a win of course!
Closing Thoughts
Overall, Hotshot Racing is a fantastic callback to the arcade racing games of old and at $19.99 ($17.99 with Xbox Game Pass), it’s a steal of a game. Having played it on Nintendo Switch, I was thoroughly surprised with its quality and plan to install it on my Xbox to play it even more. I would highly recommend it if you love the arcade racing scene or just want a fun racing game to play on the go or on your couch, especially in this time of quarantine where we all need to fill our days with something fun. With Sumo Digital promising free DLC and four-player split-screen racing, what’s not to love with this game?
Hotshot Racing successfully captures the feeling of arcade racing and I give it a 5/5 for creativity and playability. I look forward to this franchise evolving and I hope you do too.
Hotshot Racing is currently available on PS4, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch. It’s also part of Xbox Game Pass.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided