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The spanish developer Eclips games. Became known on steam with their game Lightfish.
Their new game is now available as early acces. So be aware that this review is based on a BETA version.
So lets do it! Lets checkout: SUPER TOY CARS!
Super Toy Cars is an arcade racer. It borrows elements from games like MarioKart.
Its style and gameplay are a little different.
The game looks more like a new micromachines.
You will notice that the first car feels allot like Revolt. And somewhere a bit like Trackmania.
The first car you get is simply a like or don't like.
You can win races, and pickup coins to earn money. You can spend this money to buy new cars or buy upgrades.
The game has 16 different cars.
Wich all have their own unique behaviour on the road.
The next car on the list is not always the best choice for you.
This does not mean that the next car is good or bad.
But this car could fit or not fit your driving style.
Some cars have more topspeed. Others have better handling or acceleration.
And some are better with making corners. In this game, the difference between every car is pretty big.
A wrong choice may change the race or even the outcome of your tournament.
And you might want to go back to your old ride.
And save money for a new car.
Some cars are more responsive then others.
This makes the cars despite of their cartoony look. More technical then lets say, MarioKart.
A good way to start is to pick a quickrace. And try a few cars to see wich type of car is the best for you.
This way you can see what cars fits your driving style.
You can pick carreermode, and play one of the episodes.
One episode is a tournament, consisting of 6 races.
Every race will be played in one of the 5 different gametypes.
You will play several different gametypes in every episode.
At the start of a race, you will see a little message. This tells you what type of game you will play on this track.
The first gametype is the basic race.. duh. Finish the race in first place.
Another gametype is the time-trial. And a timetrail where you have to reach checkpointwithin the timelimit.
There's also an elimination game. Every 5 seconds, the last car will be taken out of the race.
The longer you survive, the harder it gets not to end up in last place.
This last gametype is also available with not weapon, but mines on the track.
Just because they can ;)
During the race you can bump into eachother. A little push is no problem. But this is no Destruction Derby.
Bumping into your enemies might result in a crash.
And you'll endup hitting the wall with your pigface.
So pushing and bumping is at your own risk.
A better idea is to use one of the weapons. These are the basic powerups like the speedbooster.
The homing missile. And oil.
But also some extra weapson. Like a weapon that flips over cars.
Chewing gum will slow down cars. And this giant 8-ball will crush your enemies.
The powerups spawn at several places on the track.
You can carry one powerup at the time.
Besides the powersups, you also have your own speedboost.
you will gain boost as long as you are airbourne. So as long as you are in the air after a jump.
This will also fill up when you drift. You can survive sharp corners when you drift.
You gain speedbooster for every second you drift.
When you speedbooster is at 100% , you can use it whenever you want.
So you got your favorite car. You know about the powerups.
You know how to jump and drift. If you still got trouble to finish first.
You can pick one of the alternative routes on the track.
This is not always the faster way, although it is the shorter one.
But this route is also harder, and has more obstacles on the road. Its your choice if you want to take the risk.
The difficulty-curve of the game is pretty smooth.
There are no spikes or extremely hard area's.
You won't have any trouble in the first races.
Even if you're not a race-fan, you can handle your first races.
Eventually the difficulty will catch up.
And you have to fight for your first position. Remember, its an arcade racer.
So expect some rockets when you're about to finish first.
Ofcourse, the NPC-cars will fire at you. And take shortcuts.
This makes the game more fun, even in single player.
But multiplayer is the best way to enjoy this game.
You can laugh at your enemies after they hit the wall.
Multiplayer is ofcourse a little harder, but if you can handle your singleplayer races.
You will survive the multiplayer races. And even if your end up last.
There are still homing missiles.
The visual style of Super toycars are partly new.
But it also shows some clear resemblance with micro machines.
Its half cellshaded, halfrealistic. The enviroments are things like a kidsroom.
A table. Or a garage.
All the cars a tiny. And when you set the camera on topdown view.
It looks just like micromachines.
Your controls may feel different in this view.
Because your camera does not rotate with your movement.
The game is no graphics bomb, but its not bad looking either.
It uses some shader and particles.
Everything has a subtle cellshading-filter. And you can change the color and style your cars.
Althought the cars are different enough by design.
The game looks a bit cartoony. But it just looks good, and i have nothing to complain about it.
The game's soundtrack is a good choice. But it might needs some more tracks in the future.
Again, this is an early acces version. The game might still evolve a bit along the way.
Don't let small bugs scare you way. These things will be fixed in the near future.
Super toy cars is playable with keyboard. Or with a controller.
In single player.
4 player local And multiplayer.
The game has 16 different cars. 12 tracks.
5 different gamestypes. And a total of 48 races.
There is also a level editor. So you can build your own tracks.
It still needs some work, but its working great already.
The game is as good as finished, but not 100% done yet.
Also the amount of players online needs some time to grow.
Ofcourse, this is not a 80 hour game.
Compared to need for speed and burnout. Its not as complex.
Those games are like fancy expensive wines. This game is more of a cheap champagne.
But DAMN this cheap champagne is good stuff!
Its simple and small, but its allot of fun!
There's no violence and also ok to play for young gamers.
Super Toy Cars is available for PC and Mac.
The game is 6 euro's on steam.
The system requirements are superfriendly. And even on your older pc, this game will run fine.
Super Toy Cars is just Hands to the trigger.. Pedal to the metal!
And ball to the wall free for all action! This is a game for the fans of revolt.
Everybody who loved rock'n roll racing. Everybody who likes mariokart.
Don't let the 'indie game' tag scare you. And Checkout:Super Toy Cars!