Mini Motor Racing EVO

   
Developer: The Binary Mill

Steam Release: May 2013

Hours Played: 4.2

Similar To: Bang Bang Racing / Death Rally / Mantis Burn Racing

Rating: 5/5 Parsnips

GAMEPLAY

Mini Motor Racing EVO is one of those unfortunate titles that has garnered much praise as a mobile game but become much-maligned on making the transition to PC. It hails from an almost ignored genre with a relatively small selection of games but despite it's obvious flaws there is still plenty of the game to like. We're talking a top-down racer here with races consisting of around five laps and lasting no more than one or two minutes. You get about four or five other extremely annoying drivers who on certain tracks constantly bump into you as you negotiate your vehicle around plenty of tight corners, twisting chicanes and zig-zag hills. Needless to say bottle-neck bunch ups and collisions abound making some races look more like bumper cars at a fairground rather than racing cars on a track. 
 

BALANCE & PACE

Pulling away from trouble and maintaining a lead is therefore of paramount importance - which can sometimes be done right at the start of the race with use of the nitro-boost ability. These can also be picked up on the track and used as power-ups. The main complaint about MMR is the handling and physics of the cars. They certainly seem lightweight and don't hold or grip onto the surface as cars should. You'll also flip or roll over too often and bump into tiny things that hardly seem to be there. But I'm prepared to forgive the game all this because the AI is fierce and competitive in a way which almost makes you think they're human - and it's this inherent vigour and aggression in the game that makes the player actually more determined to outwit them and win the race! Consequently, when you do, there is a real feeling of accomplishment.

PRESENTATION & DESIGN

The game has so many menus that at first it can be quite easy to get lost. For the career mode you'll zoom into a car selection screen, move onto an upgrade screen (to improve handling, nitro, acceleration or top speed) then select a beginner, intermediate or expert championship followed by a cup and finally one of four races. You then might want to navigate out of the career mode and play a quick race. Again, you'll need to zoom out of three or four menus, enter the quick race mode, select a car, select standard or custom tracks, then choose a track. You might also want to look at the online leaderboards to see where you stand. In short, although the zoom in and out feature is nicely done, be prepared for a lot of menu hopping between races.  
 

PROGRESS SYSTEM

MMR features a Career and a Quick Race mode. Career mode is split into three championships: Beginner, Intermediate and Expert which are split into about 10-12 unlockable cups with four races in each. 1st place gets you the gold award, silver for 2nd and bronze for 3rd. You'll also get a cash reward to upgrade cars. Quick Race gives you a choice of 21 tracks (some are locked) that usually involve a five or six lap race. Here, the game records your best time and the car you did it in which can then be viewed at the online leaderboards. In Career mode, the four upgrade areas of handling, nitro, acceleration and top speed are maxed out at different capped ranges for different cars making it a puzzle as to which car to use for which race and which car to actually upgrade with your cash.   

CONCLUSION

Opinion is divided greatly over MMR. One camp, thoroughly put off by the physics and car handling maintain it should have stayed a mobile game; the other (myself included) enjoy the arcade feel and overall decent graphics. For me, the challenges rise at a decent enough rate in the career mode for me to want to come back and fight for gold. Also, although there are certainly three or four tracks designed to infuriate, the majority play really well and successfully induce the buzz that a good racing game strives to instill in the driver. Which cars to use and upgrade is perhaps a puzzle and some may even find the need to grind for cash to unlock the full potential of a bunch of cars but the process is largely enjoyable and good practice for when a quick race comes calling.