The tiny cars that could.
PLAYERS: 1-2 simultaneous
PUBLISHER: Camerica
DEVELOPER: Codemasters
GENRE: Racing
RELEASE DATE: 1991
Leave it to Codemasters, the masters of unlicensing things, to pick up the license for Micro Machines, then make it into an unlicensed game. LICENSES, HOW DO THEY WORK! But thank God we have Micro Machines at all, and that it’s as fun as it is. Besides the ever-present squelchy music that is characteristic of most of Codemasters’ work, and the bizarre-looking drivers to choose from (did the artist not know what real people looked like, or were they just hoping to terrify the players?), Micro Machines really does hit that sweet spot of racing for me; pre-Super Mario Kart, this and RC-Pro Am are the racing games that can’t be beat (sorry, Mr. Andretti). Jeeps, tanks (complete with weaponry), sports cars, turbo wheels, among others are all represented, and all handle differently. The tracks are cleverly constructed to reinforce the fact that, yes, you are indeed racing Micro Machines. Navigating around breakfast fixins, incomplete homework, and messy billiard tables are all in a day’s work for savvy racers like Dwayne and Jethro (ugh, not all Americans are mentally handicapped, Codemasters). I do wish that the vehicles weren’t so quick to accelerate at times, but I can’t argue with the overall solid controls. Oh, that all racing games felt this solid, especially when the game switches between a wide variety of vehicles. Racing small toy cars against other small toy cars in real-life environments is one of life’s simple pleasures. Bust out a Mentos and play some Micro Machines.
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5 replies on “#418 – Micro Machines”
Great game. I wish the overhead view was zoomed out a little bit more so you could actually see what’s ahead of you more than a half second before it appears, but otherwise no complaints.
I remember this game. And the later ones. They had one on N64 that wasn’t nearly as good as it should have been. I also used to actually have some of the Micro Machines toys as a kid. Pretty cool stuff. You’re right, this and RC Pro Am were the shit.
There is a Micro Machines game for the PS1 that is excellent. You can four players simultaneously with only two controllers!
I just could never enjoy these types of racing games… RC-pro did nothing for me either…The only car related games I can think of that I like are the Rad Racer games xD… I guess I’ll just have to keep looking for a 2 player racer that I enjoy – I’m not a fan of racing games really but I try to have at least 1 of each genre in my library.
Rad Racer 1 and 2 are excellent choices.