You can play each of these modes locally against your friends, as well as online of course, and if you can get friends to play locally, this as it always has been, is the best way to experience Micro Machines. During each of these modes you will be able to pick-up Mario Kart style power-ups, from Nerf Guns to bombs in an attempt to temporality wipe your opponent from the game before they re-spawn back into the action. Elimination, arguably the most popular mode from the entire series, will have players participate in a race and if you car falls to the back of the pack and disappears from the screen, you’re eliminated, the race continues on until there is only one player remaining. Battle will see various players, well, battle against one another as you aim to take control over a designated zone. Race does exactly what it says on the tin, you race over a number of laps and the first player across the finish line wins. Micro Machines World Series offers three main modes to play, Battle, Race and Elimination. Upon starting Micro Machines World Series, the choices available to you may seem a little basic, but one of appeals of this franchise, was its simplistic, pick-up and play style.
I suppose it’s fair to say that the gameplay has been refined for this modern era and mixed with the more technically advanced controllers that we have today, this should at least result in a few less controllers being thrown from across the room, hopefully. However, what I would say is that this instalment does feel easier to control then past releases. You really wouldn’t have the series to look any other way and along with its gameplay style, this is how a Micro Machines game is meant to look and play. Visually, Micro Machines World Series will be instantly recognisable to most gamers, with its top-down visuals and of course iconic race tracks which can take place on Pool Tables, Kitchen Tables, Work Shop Tables and much more, each with their own unique aesthetic and hazards.
Thankfully, 11 years on from Micro Machines V4, we do know have that authentic release that should not only satisfy veteran gamers of yesteryear, but also introduce new gamers to the franchise and we have just that with Micro Machines World Series for the PC, PS4 and Xbox One, though I do hope to see this title release on the Nintendo Switch one day, because if there’s another game made for on the go, other than Mario Kart, then its Micro Machines. However, while there have been a number of pretenders attempting to hit us directly in the nostalgia feels, unless it’s a Micro Machines branded game from developers Codemasters, potentially nothing else will ever do. Since that time we’ve had a number of releases and spin-offs, the most recent in 2006 with Micro Machines V4, but nothing in my opinion has reached the dizzying mini-heights of the 1990’s.įrom then on, fans, including myself have been not only longing for a release on this generation, but a quality game that the series deserves, bringing us that old-school top-down multiplayer mayhem, infused with the gaming capabilities and online functionality that we know of today. Then it was from 1994 when we got my favourite release in the series with Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament.
The Micro Machines mini toy car phenomenon has been around since the 1970’s with it arguably reaching its peak of popularity during the 1990’s and it was in the 90’s when we get one of the most popular video games of its generation with Micro Machines which released on the NES, SNES, Sega Master System and Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, to name but a few formats from 1991.