Cruis’nacross the kitchen
Several years ago we coveredMario Kart Live, the “mixed reality” RC-car-like game from Velan Studios. I had a blast playing it (and my family even ended up buying a Luigi cart to race with our kid), but you could clearly see that it was a bit limited in what it was trying to do. Well, Velan is back withHot Wheels: Rift Rally, and it feels like a more fully-realized experience. Given the cost, that’s ideal!
Hot Wheels: Rift Rally(iOS, PS4, PS5 [reviewed])Developer: Velan StudiosPublisher: Velan StudiosReleased: March 31MSRP: $129.99 (standard edition), $149.99 (collector’s edition)
Hot Wheels: Rift Rally’ssetup is pretty painless
Just likeMario Kart Live,Hot Wheels: Rift Rallyuses a remote control car (with a camera) that interfaces with software to simulate a racing game in a real life environment. While Mario isn’t poking out of the driver’s seat being cute, this iteration is cleverly called the “Chameleon Car,” which can morph into tons of different classicHot Wheelsracers in-game.
By placing four “gates” throughout your house, you’ll be able to see the track on the screen, which includes any real hazards or layouts you devise on your own. The tech is slick, andRift Rallysupports PVP as well as AI opponents.
Setting it all up was painless for me. The car has a little side panel that can be opened for USB charging, and from there you need to load up the iOS or PS4/PS5 app.Rift Rallywill walk you through everything organically (including connecting the car and instructions for building the gates by hand); a format thatreallyreminded me of the step-by-step process Nintendo uses forLabo.
There are two potential connection types forRift Rally:
This is a huge step up fromMario Kart Live, as theRift RallyWifi option hosts a significantly more stable connection in my household. In all, it took me around three minutes to fully get up and running.
Rift Rallyhas a campaign, which does some heavy lifting
Rift Rallyis as simple or as complex as you want: as evidenced by the fact that everyone in my immediate family enjoyed interacting with the game in different ways. You can focus more on traditional driving or try and master some of the “stunt-centric” intricacies to get an edge; like burning out, drifting, and popping wheelies.
The campaign is a huge boon as it walks you through all of these concepts and sends you on your way through a small series of stages; augmenting a traditional free play mode. There are more significant rewards this time around, including randomized cars after leveling up; as well as extras like more music tracks. Thankfully,Rift Rally‘s campaign isn’t solely racing-focused: there are challenges too, like destroying drones on a track before they can destroy the map or racing side-by-side with monsters or other digital hazards. All that wackiness marries the stunt and racing aspect ofRift Rallyin an interesting way that isn’t too out there to the point where it impedes gameplay.
You do still need what I could call a “medium-sized room” (at least) to play it comfortably, which is going to be a limiting factor once again for anyone looking to buy into this mixed reality universe. The small caveat is thatRift Rallydoesn’t require a ton of room to stunt around in, and you can do more with less compared toMario Kart Live.
Stunt mode is where I spent most of my time
Stunt mode is the other core focus of the game, which is basically just “messing around for points.” It’s also the thing my kid loves the most. As a model “free play” game type you’re able to try out all sorts of weird jumps and track layouts: you don’t even need to set up the gates at all.
It’s a great place to train and try out drifting and burning out properly, and you’ll earn levels/experience for doing it. Velan was really savvy to add this mode in, as I tend to oscillate between blowing off some steam on a lazy weekend evening with stunt mode and trying to make actual progress. Again, all of it leads to unlocks, so it’s not wasted time either way if you’re progression-oriented.
I wasn’t able to test out multiplayer pre-launch (because I only had access to one car, and couldn’t find anyone online). But the inclusion of these at all will clearly extend the game’s longevity in our house, especially with online play on the table.
If you were on the fence aboutMario Kart Live, IP aside,Rift Rallyis a more fully featured game
Obviously, some folks are going to get a lot of joy out ofMario Kart Livebecause of the sights and sounds of theMarioIP alone. I get it! The pitch probably sold itself, as the entire concept ofMario Kartin real life is fun on paper all the way to practice.
Yet,Hot Wheels: Rift Rallyuses everything the team learned from their prior project to keep you playing a bit longer; which is something youwantfrom a game that costs $100+ and requires a toy to function. We’ll definitely be alternating between this andMario Kart Livein the future, skewed toward digging intoRift Rallyhas to offer.
[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher. 8.5/10]
