It takes an awful lot for a racing game to stand out from the crowd these days. With so many options available, from realistic sims like GRID Autosport to, well, Mario Kart, there’s pretty much something for everyone. Mini Motor Racing X is a fine arcade racer with smooth gameplay and decent graphics, but it just doesn’t do anything to sell itself. There’s plenty to sink your teeth into on the surface, but dig a bit deeper and there’s actually very little on offer here that hasn’t been done before.
Taking the approach of a more accessible, simplistic experience, Mini Motor Racing X feels like a bit of a cross between Micro Machines and Mario Kart, featuring blocky, toy-like vehicles alongside abilities like nitro boost and various weaponry. There are an abundance of tracks to choose from, with some located on tropical beach resorts, and others in African grasslands, complete with giraffes and rhinos. Keeping to the ‘mini’ theme, these tracks are generally quite short, and so often compensate for this by featuring four or five laps.
The way the vehicles themselves handle is a bit iffy, at least at first. They have an incredibly floaty feel to them, and so you need to be careful when taking corners so you don’t oversteer and end up facing the opposite direction. It takes a bit of getting used to, and even then it can be a tad too fiddly for our liking. Weapons take the form of wrenches, rockets and more, and instead of picking them up as you drive around the course, they’re handed out each time you cross the starting line. This often means you’re stuck with no weapons at your disposal if you happen to use them too soon.
The game’s Career mode makes up the bulk of the gameplay in Mini Motor Racing X; you’ll race your way through championships, unlocking more courses along the way, in addition to new vehicles and upgrades. These can then be utilised in the separate Quick Race mode and Arcade mode (which features a mini-game called Bumper Ball, and is essentially the game’s inferior take on Rocket League). If you like collecting new items, you’ll find plenty here to be getting on with.
We love a good arcade racing game, and in many ways Mini Motor Racing X delivers thrills in spades; it’s a reasonably fast, responsive experience with loads of vehicles and tracks to try out. Ultimately, though, there’s just nothing here that really stands out; nothing to tear you away from Mario Kart 8 or Rocket League. It’s quite content with being an entertaining alternative, and if you’re happy with that, then you’ll have a good time.
Comments 10
I've already burned out on mk8 after a few hundred hours. So, I welcomed a new racer. I like it. I've probably put 10 hours in, so far. While it may not keep my interest for hundreds of hours like MK8, CTR, Rocket League, I am still having good fun with this.
Regarding "fiddly" handling, I bumped steering sensitivity down two notches.
Wasn't sure which I had on steam so double-checked. Turns out I have both EVO & X but have more hours on Bang Bang Racing than those two combined. Hmm may have to give them another look.
I love that game. Bought it a second time for Switch now and I'm absolutely satisfied!
I have this on Oculus Quest. It's great in VR. Fun little arcade racing game.
I like the many camera angles they provided for this game which caught my attention, and the graphics actually look surprisingly good for a budget cartoonish racer. Watched a video of it and it looks pretty decent but the gameplay also looked fairly generic and the music and sound was very generic. If this is cheap on sale I might give it a go, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it. Still, better than most top-down racers.
Loving this game! Had it years ago on Android.
It actually sounds ok but it's a saturated genre on the Switch and there are a fair number of superior racers.
Just invest some money in handling and acceleration upgrades and suddenly the game becoms superfun. 9/10 imho !
This is fantastic in V.R
Has it got a physical switch release
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