🏎️💨🏁Hotshot Racing | PS4 | Review | "A Game That Should Definitely Be Drifting Into Your Game Library" 🏎️💨🏁 @CurveDigital #IndieGames #GameDev #HotshotRacing

Game Title: 
Publisher: Curve Digital
Platform Reviewed: PS4
Rating: Ice Cool

I’ve been on a bit of a racing binge the last week or so with a few games skidding into the GF virtual office that needs the flaming gavel of justice to cast judgment upon them. 

Hotshot Racing really stood out with its accessibility, stylish visuals, smooth gameplay and a great sense of balance.

Booting up Hotshot Racing, it’s already good vibes galore. The polygonal, vibrant visuals, kinetic soundtrack and prevailing sense of fun really set the scene in my head for the kind of arcade racing that gets my engines sweating. 

There are quite a few modes here with the usual career mode (available, quite saucily as a 2-player mode as well, this is something I really get a lot of play-time out of) alongside time trials, ‘Cops n’ Robbers’ and ‘Drive or Explode’ modes to offer longevity outside of the main career mode, which takes you across sixteen tracks with a selection of drivers and cars available, each with numerous, cosmetic upgrades unlocked by completing arching challenges across the modes.

The game is FAST. Running at 60fps  in single-player modes and still rock-steady in the multiplayer modes (you can have up to 8-players online and 4-players locally), there is a real sense of speed as you burn and boost your way through the locales. 

The boost is earned either by slip-streaming your rivals or building it up via drifting. This is a very drift-centric racer, with truly satisfying controls that feel ultra-responsive.  

It comes off as a perfect meld of Ridge Racer in playstyle and a super-upgraded Virtua Racing in terms of visuals. Also, keep your peepers out for the Daytona and Sega Rally references on certain tracks!

I’d also like to point out the AI which is quite aggressive and also feels really nicely balanced, resulting in races that always feel tense but never unfair. 

No matter which position you are in and even with a second player in the GP mode - at a different skill level - you are never either ridiculously far ahead or trailing well-behind, the game subtly makes each race fun for everyone and this neat touch goes a long, long way in keeping the excitement up for all players.

Honestly, it’s hard to find fault here, especially at this price. Hotshot Racing is an absolute gem of an arcade racer and the fact it includes the extra modes and 4-player (local) and 8-player (online) capability means that it will cater for a lot of player-specific situations. 

I’m currently loving blasting through the 2-player GP but I have no doubt in my mind that when friends come round, this drift-tastic action will be booted up HARD for a few hours. Simple, smooth, saucy.

Right, as Neil Young said on his 2012 album, Psychedelic Pill, 
“I’m driftin’ back…I’m driftin’ back…”

❄️ RATING: ICE COOL ❄️

Ratings Explained

ICE COOL (Great Game Recommended)

MELTING (Recommended with reservations, one to consider if you are a fan of the genre)

MELTED (Not A Recommended Purchase)