Review by Jon Donnis
I was kindly sent a copy of Hotshot Racing by Curve Digital to review.
What do you get if you take all of the best 90's arcade racers like Virtua Racing, Scud Race, Winning Run, Daytona USA and Burnout, mix them all up and add 60fps? You get Hotshot Racing.
I reviewed Formula Retro Racing last June, a similar style arcade game in that classic 90's polygon style, and I loved that game, but I think that Hotshot Racing is even better.
The graphics are great for what they are supposed to be, for all of you young gamers, these graphics are a perfect representation of the 90's arcade racer. But when done on a modern console, with a high frames per second refresh rate, everything moves so much smoother.
There are 16 tracks spread across 4 distinct areas, coastal, jungle, alpine and desert, each track can also be mirrored.
There is your classic Grand Prix mode whereby you compete in a number of races to hopefully finish atop the podium, as well as your usual Time Trial, and Exhibition race modes, but there are also a few extra game modes thrown in to, which I did not expect, there is a Cops and Robbers mode, where you play as either a Cop trying to take down the illegal racers, or you play as an illegal racer trying to evade the cops. There's also a Drive or Explode mode, in the style of the film Speed, you have to stay above a certain speed or you blow up, but after every lap the minimum speed needed is raised. These are both genuinely fun modes, and never feel like they were thrown in at the last minute. In fact I played these modes more than the basic exhibition mode when I was checking out the tracks.
As well as the single player mode, you can also have up to 4 player split screen, or 8 player online. I was unable to try the online modes at the time of writing, but I did play the split screen mode with a friend and everything ran smoothly.
There are 8 racers to choose from, and as you progress through the game and earn more money you can buy new clothes etc for the characters, you can also buy upgrades to the cars, of which each character has the choice of a different 4 cars than anyone else.
As you play through the levels you will notice that drifting is a big part of things, not only does it look and feel great to effortlessly drift around a corner, it also charges your boost, another way to charge your boost is by slip-streaming an opponent, once your boost meter is charged you can then use it to give you that much needed catch up if you fall behind a competitor.
The Good
The game looks great, it is easy to get the hang of it, and it really is a game you will come back to.
The Bad
I really cant think of anything, the game is great, perhaps more cars or more tracks, although there already is plenty.
Summary.
This is a great arcade racer, one of the best I have played in a long time. This is better than Formula Retro Racing which I gave a 8 out of 10, so this I have to give a 9/10
