HOT WHEELS UNLEASHED™

Remember the days? Playing vroom-vroom with your little cars on imaginary race tracks across your childhood bedroom, where every corner was its own adventure? In this 100% arcade title you'll be reunited with your little Mattel cars, racing across fiendish tracks inspired by the world of toys. Expect high-speed thrills galore.

Just like the old Micromachines games on the PlayStation 1, Hot Wheels Unleashed is a blast from the past and a trip back to the days you spent going "vroom-vroom" with your little Mattel cars...

Here, though, you'll be driving your mini racers "for real".

A totally arcade gaming experience, this game will go down well with both kids and their parents' inner children.

We liked how easy it was to pick up and play for ages 8+, with no need to worry about complicated controls. There's accelerate, brake, nitro... And that's all there is to it! The vehicles handle well, and it's easy to drift round corners to your heart's content. But be warned: it's fast!

Your speed, cornering, and jumps will be your best friends when it comes to overtaking your opponents and dominating the tracks that will see you racing from every room in a huge house, from the basement to the kitchen and even through the living room. You'll be racing full pelt past the home cinema and arcade machines, through the library, a laboratory and a garage, and along ventilation ducts, beams, tables, sofas, desks... and much more besides!

There's a range of different game modes: the first, City Rumble, is your classic single-player mode with more than 50 races to win. Then there's the usual exhibition races, multiplayer mode, and a track builder.

Our favourite part? The way you can build your own tracks just like you did in your bedroom back in the day, using books, your dirty mug, and your schoolbooks. It’s what makes Hot Wheels Unleashed so special, and the track editor gives free rein to your imagination as you create crazy racetracks to share online.

Make sure that you keep your eyes on the road, though, because any corner can have a surprise in store.

Imagine the scene: you're on the track with your engine humming, ready to give your all to be first over the finish line. All of a sudden, your car is catapulted forwards by a speed boost or your hit an unexpected obstacle. The tracks are a dynamic playground that will really put your driving skills to the test, so here's just a few of the things you can expect:

• Boost ramps that can flip direction at any moment and slow you down
• Gateways that block part of a junction so that you have to take another route
• Spider webs fired by "real" giant spiders, dragons that spit fire, and snakes that can gobble you up...
• Powerful fans that can blow you off the track

Our advice? Easy mode is great to play with kids, but Normal mode is challenging enough. Hard mode is for pros only!

Milestone has done a great job with this arcade racer that's both "childlike" and realistic, in that you feel like you're racing with real scale model cars.

We loved it!