Hot Wheels Velocity X - PS2

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Hot Wheels Velocity X (PS2)
Also for: PC, GameCube
Viewed: 3D Combination Genre:
Racing: Car
Media: DVD Arcade origin:No
Soft. Co.: Mattel
Publishers: THQ (GB/GB)
Released: 29 Nov 2002 (GB)
Unknown (GB)
Ratings: 3+
Features: Vibration Function Compatible, Analogue Control Compatible: analogue sticks only
Accessories: Memory Card

Summary

Coveting Hot Wheels cars made up for many an hour in the newsagents back in the early eighties, playing with them even more. When staring at the traditional Atari VCS, strewn across the lounge floor, along with a miniature garage of epic proportions, the concept of the two joining in a fully-interactive 3D racing game would have been too much for our comparatively Neanderthal imaginations to handle.

And yet, here is that very game. It's real, it exists!

Admittedly, Hot Wheels: Velocity X isn't the most refined racing simulator available on the market today. Aimed at a younger audience, Velocity X makes up in content what it lacks in pedigree.

Featuring almost 40 Hot Wheels racers, Velocity X is a multi-faceted affair, centering around F-Zero or Mario Kart style battle racing. Essentially, you take on yet another tyrannical criminal organisation bent on over-running Monument City. Think Spy Hunter combined with Hot Wheels, taking more than a slight cue from F-Zero X and you should get the idea.

The gameplay is set around an impressively deep series of missions, each involving outsmarting or out-driving the opposition. Or simply blowing them up.

These is a strong WipeOut feeling at play in Velocity X with power-ups collected as you race, at incredibly high speed, along the looping and twisting tracks that comprise Monument City.

A resplendent multiplayer mode has been included, splitting the screen with Drag Race, simple racing, Hot Wheels Battle Mode, a kill-each-other-as-much-as-possible affair and Stunt Challenge, wherein players take turns to perform the most impressive stunt possible using a specific piece of terrain.

There hasn't been a decent high-speed futuristic racer released for the PlayStation 2 in quite a while, with many players finding the last release in the WipeOut series a little disappointing. Hopefully this offering from THQ will prove a little more satisfactory, especially for fans of the toys.