Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged Isn’t Mario Kart (But Should Be)
Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged Review
When I played Hot Wheels Unleashed in 2021, I thought it was solid arcade racing fun and a really good start for a Hot Wheels racing game series. It just needed a bit of extra magic to make it something I’d want to keep going back to.
I was hoping that Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged would be the answer, and despite adding brand new features like double-jumping, side bashing, a campaign with a story and some new modes and ways to race, it’s still just not quite there.
As a result, I found myself feeling a little bored and like I had done this all before already, despite looking at brightly coloured environments, energetic music and the best cars that Hot Wheels has to offer.
Here’s the truth.
Watch the video review, or keep reading below:
There are more Mario Kart clones out there than you can shake a blue shell at, and as obvious as the idea might sound, I think that Hot Wheels would benefit from being one of them. The arcade racing barely keeps up with games like Trackmania or Hotshot Racing, so it needs something other than just the Hot Wheels angle to keep the excitement up.
The solution is simple, and make no mistake, I’m using this review to once again push my agenda:
We… I–, no… WE need a new Blur.
It’s All A Blur
Remember Blur? You don’t? Well, you missed an attempt at a “grown up” Mario Kart with real car manufacturers, bad-ass graphics, and multiplayer modes that even included 4 player split-screen. It was the best, and it’s a crime against gamers across the world that it didn’t make it into the list of backwards compatible Xbox games.
But we don’t have a new Blur, and I don’t know if we ever will (Come on Xbox acquisition, DO SOMETHING), but Hot Wheels can still be that Blur we need.
Unleash The Mario Kart
Mario Kart is trapped on Nintendo devices, which is fine, but Hot Wheels is SUCH a huge deal around the world, it makes so much sense for it to be the multi-platform Mario Kart that everyone else gets to play.
It has most of the elements we need: fast cars, creative tracks and solid handling… all it really needs to shine, is the ability to blast your friend off the track with a rocket, drop oil to make someone slip out, or send a homing missile of apocalyptic dread to the smug asshole who thinks they are sitting pretty in first place.
Before long, I won’t be thinking about Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged anymore. It will be nothing more than a faint memory of a game I played for a while that was just sort of like the first one – but with some changes.
I still think there’s something here that could be really good, and can only hope that maybe one day, through an expansion or sequel – we could see Hot Wheels really reach its full potential.
