

Conversely, completing the career requires victory on sixteen circuits, each at three difficulty levels, and without the ability to pimp my jalopy I wasn’t particularly inspired to replay all sixteen tracks twice against the increasingly annoying opposition with just a different paint job and a massive spoiler added. I found this to be slightly frustrating, particularly as the visual upgrades weren’t striking enough to bother with and did nothing to change the car’s potential.

Like Horizon Chase Turbo, there are really only a handful of different handling models, but unlike the upgrade system in that game, Hotshot Racing doesn’t offer performance upgrades, merely superficial add-ons which can be purchased with the money earned during the career. Career mode has eight different characters to choose from, and each character has a choice of four cars with different strengths – strong on drifting, acceleration, top speed, or an all-rounder. There’s a good sense of speed, and although the cars feel light and low on inertia, the handling is satisfying once you nail the drifting and sail around the tracks cleanly, boosting your way to victory. It perfectly evokes the classic Sega arcade titles from yesteryear: Daytona USA, Virtua Racing, Outrun 2 and several others from that era. Fabulous and authentic low polygon graphics with startling lighting, a dazzling colour palette and hi-res spot effects to remind you that you’re playing a modern game. The first thing that strikes you when you get stuck into Hotshot Racing is the crisp retro beauty of it. I’m kidding of course, but how does Lucky Mountain Games‘ Hotshot Racing, which was crowdfunded hold up? Hotshot Racing PS4 Review Authentic Low Polygon Graphics Back in the day, it’s a little known fact that some high profile games were actually funded through unorthodox means: Hideo Kojima was forced to auction off his stuffed owl collection to raise the money for Metal Gear Solid and Peter Molyneux could only complete the Fable series by taking up a paper round before he went to the office. Hotshot Racing PS4 Review – Crowdfunding game development is commonplace these days, with many indie titles supported from the off by a gaggle of salivating gamers, hungry for a Spyro the Dragon knock-off or a new Industrial Estate Walking Simulator.
