PlayStation 2

Micro Machines

As one of the longest-running car racing franchises around, the Micro Machines series certainly gained a bit of a following over the years. Based on the concept of miniature cars driving in wacky, oversized real-world environments, the first few games in the series featured a top-down camera view and a style of racing that was revolutionary for their time. Now, Infogrames has released Micro Machines for the PlayStation 2, and though it definitely sticks to the original formula, something has clearly been lost in the translation.

When Playstation arrived and slowly but surely bought gaming to the masses, there were very few games that everybody could just pick up and play. Top of the list were obviously football games; pass, shoot, Bob’s your uncle. Then came along Micro Machines (left, right, go, shoot, got it) and for the first time since Match of The Day there was a reason to ditch the pub early on a Saturday night and sneak home. Everybody, I mean everybody, wanted a go.

Missförstå mig inte, Micro Machines V3 var som sagt inget dåligt spel, och det här är mer av det goda, men tre år för sent. Jag hade hoppats på grafik som kunde lyfta det gamla slitna konceptet till samma nivå av storögd fascination för grodperspektivet som många av oss upplevde när Micro Machines 2 släpptes. Det här är nämligen en unik idé som fortfarande har potential. Att krympa sig själv och åka leksaksbil genom et stökigt pojkrum är npgot i alla fall jag drömde om som liten. Hade Sheffield House bara bytt ut persongalleriet av trista stereotyper och den sorgliga varietémusiken, stoppat in 100 000 polygoner till och allra helst vridit tillbaka kameran till den plats där den ursprungligen satt, då hade vi börjat snacka om höga betyg.