First hours with Hot Wheels Unleashed: until a few days ago I was not aware of how good these circuits look

Let the first stone be cast by anyone who has not looked down on a game based on licenses or franchises. Relax, it usually happens, we have all been there at some point, and we must recognize that brands and developers have earned it. But – I love the buts, just like that – watch out for Hot Wheels Unleashed.

Be careful because it is the typical game that passes under your radar without stopping too much to ask yourself internally if it catches your attention or not – I even thought it had already come out – and we may be sitting on one of those gems of arcade driving that so sought after they are in these times.

You come for the cars, you stay for the circuits

I acknowledge that I have never been a huge Hot Wheels fan. When I was little I was more aware of the MicroMachines and it has been at the hands of my children when I started to ride huge tracks at home that have not made me take any more affection for how little it always looks like anything you see in an advertisement for TV.

That said, they are crazy cars and circuits, one of the few things in the world that I like more than normal cars and circuits. Fantasy vehicles and impossible tracks that, like the MicroMachines of yesteryear, take advantage of real settings to set up the most insane routes possible.

Although I have only been able to go through a small portion of the available tracks, only 9 of the more than 40 that will be in the final version, its design has made me absolutely fall in love. From the curve above the clouds that protrudes from a skyscraper under construction to the spider that throws webs at you and catches you after falling from a huge jump.

The cars, which recover classic Hot Wheels designs and have a certain collector’s component, are the least of it. Perhaps that is the bait that ends up drawing your attention, but I assure you that here the main course is the circuits.

Wishing to create my own circuits

Having tried four of the six scenarios that will serve as the backdrop for the races, I must admit that the idea of putting 40 circuits in such a small group sounds worse than it really is once you get around them.

Having large areas of different rooms to make the most of the variety – for example a university in which there are teachers’ offices, common rooms and classes such as a science laboratory – the game manages so that jumping from one to another is not not at all repetitive.

It has not been running Laguna Seca in one direction and another or in mirror mode, so that we understand each other, although I do not know what strategy the game will follow in the face of that final version and the number of tracks available.

In any case, it worries me rather little, because in addition to running to get new vehicles and improving the ones you already have, the great trick is to get new sections of track that you can then take advantage of to create your own circuits and share them with the community. Like the ones I ride at home but without the cars going off the side and ending up chipping furniture and walls.

Missing one more point of skidding

I have more doubts about the issue of control, which is usually everything in this type of game. The arcade spirit is noticeable, of course, but it has cost me horrors to gain control of the skid and I have missed my two hundred hours at the Ridge Racer – with the Type 4 as a flag – on more than one occasion.

It is no less true that I have gone to sack for legendary vehicles and that, from the outset, they seem the least suitable for those who arrive first, but I do admit that I miss a little more friction and grip when skidding on the curves instead of opting for a more sedate driving, of hitting the opposite side and braking before arriving.

In any case it is a very personal taste that, I hope, maybe it can be fixed with the vehicle improvement system when it comes to improving your favorite car – in my case a Rodger Dodger that I will keep from start to finish because there is no other possible option in my dictionary-.

I’m left feeling good and wanting to see what else is out of the sleeve in Hot Wheels Unleashed , especially that circuit editor for which I am already sighing, and that collection of moments like the snake that opens its mouth so you can pass or leap through the jaws of a T. Rex that I’m looking forward to integrating into my creations.