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> Results: Hot Wheels: World Race
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Drive the Impossible Hot Wheels: World Race is the newest Hot Wheels video game from THQ, Inc. The storyline in a nutshell is there used to be a race of people called Accelerons (Accelerons? They liked to accelerate, perhaps?) who built a network of speedways around a world thousands of years ago. Disaster struck (not enough in this case) and the Accelerons were forced to hide their highways in another dimension. An eccentric scientist named Peter Tezla discovers the speedways and renames them Highway 35. Since Tezla canﾒt drive on the roads himself he recruits 35 of the worldﾒs greatest drivers, builds super-powered cars for them, and challenges the 35 to a series of races to see which one comes in first. Drive the Impossible! Maybe it should have been: Crash and Itﾒll All Be Over Soon! Actually, the game is supposed to commemorate Hot Wheels 35th Anniversary. There is even a DVD of the same name available, which has received some favorable reviews.  Putting the cheesy background story aside the actual play mechanics are ﾑok.ﾒ The graphics are nice, nothing spectacular, but nice. Each track looks like the next even with the varying backgrounds. Youﾒre driving too fast to notice much, anyway. At such furious speeds thankfully each track has the obligatory railings that are familiar to Hot Wheels race set owners. The cars handle fairly well and there are a wide variety to chose from. However, I didnﾒt notice much difference between the cars other than the futuristic looks. You can run over special items that boost your speed, give you ﾓNitroxﾔ, or open up shortcuts in the speedway. There is also a stunt jump or two mixed into the speedway to allow for flips in all directions. If you do a couple of flips and make a good landing you are rewarded with a full ﾓNitrox.ﾔ Thankfully, the ancient race of Accelerons built huge ramps for stunt jumps thousands of years ago. Complete a set number of laps and the race is over. Your driver gets points based on how he/she finishes and move on to the next race. Rinse and repeat. The game doesnﾒt bother with much storyline after the opening cut scene. The game looks a lot like F Zero, but looks are where the similarities end. Hot Wheels: World Race is just your average racer, but it does include a song by Smash Mouth at the beginning. The game is somewhat easy and the average 8 year-old should be able to win consistently after a couple hours of practice with the controls. But, that same 8 year-old risks boredom with Hot Wheels: World Race. The game feels very canned. It is an uninspired title that will collect more dust than is played. This is too bad because Hot Wheels is such a classic property. The futuristic storyline does not flatter the Hot Wheels name. Kid Factor: Kids are just as smart and savvy as adults when it comes to choosing their entertainment. This bland title will provide younger kids with some fun, but in the end kids will probably move on fairly quickly. Plus, this will be a hard title for adults to want to keep playing with their kids after a few hours. Reviewer Recommended Ages: 4+ Genre: ESRB Rating: E for Everyone Producer: THQ, Inc. Developer: THQ Inc. 
Kids are just as smart and savvy as adults when it comes to choosing their entertainment. This bland title will provide younger kids with some fun, but in the end kids will probably move on fairly quickly. Plus, this will be a hard title for adults to want to keep playing with their kids after a few hours.
Kid Factor by Doug Hanna
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