![]() There is a brake button but if you’re using it, you are playing the game wrong. Micro Machines World Series handles very much like the older games, encouraging you to take corners at full speed and spin the back end out. You see, Micro Machines is based on the hugely popular collectible miniature car toys owned by Hasbro and the design of the tracks fit the whole miniature aesthetic perfectly, allowing players to drive round the tracks they wanted to drive round as a child, but without the parents taking all the fun away because you’re using baked beans as obstacles. Countless hours have been lost with players driving round on top of pool tables, dodging pieces of toast on the breakfast counter and skidding around ponds and puddles in the garden. The Micro Machines series is a top-down arcade style racer that, back in the day, was praised for its local multiplayer and track design. ![]() The dust has settled now though, and the game is finally here. The usual drip-feed of information then followed from the developers: screenshots, trailers and something no game would be complete without – a delay to its intended release date. Arena battle mode and loot boxes help mask the shortcomings, but ultimately, despite a long wait, World Series struggles to recreate Micro Machines’ combination of knife-edge racing and fun.That is the exact phrase I used at the start of my preview piece back in January when Codemasters confirmed that Micro Machines was indeed returning. The 12-player online mode does mitigate this, but at the cost of couch co-op immediacy. Sharing the screen with four other players means that, in the absence of a more dynamic view, stragglers are quickly left behind. Hasbro-themed weapons and hazards add novelty, but the racing never quite gels. The basics are all here – learning shortcuts and each tiny vehicle’s handling leads to the sort of high jinks and dirty tactics for which the series is renowned. While this reincarnation looks beautiful, it sadly lacks the racing finesse of the original. Photograph: PRĪfter an 11-year hiatus, the much-loved Micro Machines makes a return in a bid to remind us why its iconic miniature racing battles around outsized scenes of modern life proved so popular. ‘Lacks the racing finesse of the original’: Micro Machines: World Series. Developing titles that dare to step outside the mainstream is to be applauded, but this will not win any converts from Fifa’s hegemony. ![]() But in some of the mountain stages, where progress slows to a crawl as competitors labour up steep inclines, even variety among the spectator models is missing, as the same characters line the course. Graphically, the game is solid but unspectacular there is pleasure to be had from wheeling through the picturesque French countryside, even if the cyclists seems to float above the roads rather than ride on them. Controlling team-mates efficiently appears to be the key to success, but this is no easy task, as even they do not always behave as expected, which is either an impressive attempt at realism on the part of the developers or an example of not-entirely-reliable programming. Unsurprisingly, this soon becomes repetitive, a fault compounded by the bland commentary, with only the time trials offering a change. The flat stages are best skipped and the mountain stages can be automated until the last few kilometres, when a well-timed attack offers victory and possibly an overall lead with little effort. Hardcore fans will be pleased, but for a wider audience, this lost chance to break away quickly becomes more of a cycling management title rather than a simulation. Timed to coincide with this year’s ultimate two-wheel test, the latest offering in the Tour de France game series is an uphill struggle. ‘Soon becomes repetitive’: Tour de France 2017.
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