Xbox 360

Mad Tracks

Taking the arcade-style racer one step…check that, several steps further, casual games developer Load Inc. has formulated perfect, driveable Xbox Live Arcade fodder.

Unterm Strich ist Mad Tracks ein sehr gelungenes Acradegame, dass im Singleplayer schwächelt dafür im Multiplayer-Modus punktet. Die zwei Erweiterungspakete für je 350 MS-Points kann ich ruhigen Gewissens empfehlen. Es kommen nicht nur Strecken für alt bekannte Minispiele hinzu, sondern auch neue werden geschaffen. Als Rennspiel gestaltet es sich ein wenig unfair und ist stark glückabhängig. Wer am Anfang einen Fehler macht, hat fast keine Chance mehr Erster zu werden, außer ihr bekommt als einziger dauerhaft das Boost-Power-Up. Dafür machen die Minispiele einen heiden Spaß, vorallem im Multiplayer. Wer auf der Suche nach einem spaßigen Multiplayer Arcadegame war, sollte hier zugreifen.

Overall, Mad Tracks is a great choice as a family-friendly title which offers a fun party-game experience. Hardcore gamers may find that the challenges aren’t enough to keep their attention for long stretches of time, but both casual players and young gamers alike should enjoy the simple fun that is Mad Tracks.

With the recent announcement of XBLA games being delisted for bad sales and reviews, Mad Tracks could fall off the service for good, which is a great disappointment to me, as I really enjoyed this game from a local multiplayer standpoint. It’s a blast to play splitscreen when your band’s singer gets tired from hardcore sessions of Rock Band. If the complete game was available right off the bat, I’d be recommending the hell outta this game, and give it a score of around 8. Sadly, if you’re looking to just pay $10 for an XBLA gem, you should look elsewhere.

This Micro Machines-esque racer reminded me a bit of the underrated Dreamcast title Toy Commander. It’s not strictly a racer, but you drive miniature cars around in normal-sized environments. Around half of the events are typical “Point A to Point B” affairs, but it throws in some decent little distractions with pool, foosball, and golf minigames, among others. Despite their novelty the first time, they get old very quickly.

Mad Tracks is een aardige arcaderacer met veel verschillende spelmodes, die vooral in multiplayer goed tot hun recht komen. De singleplayer is helaas net iets te beperkt en wil je meer dan de eerste vijftien missies, dan zul je aardig wat bij moeten lappen.

Overall, the single-player is a boring affair. Online multiplayer is not worth the hassle. If you have a few friends over, split-screen is worth looking into for some easy, fun, party-style gaming or if you want to entertain a 6-8 year old child, this is an inexpensive babysitter. Otherwise, I’d have to recommend passing on this one.

Ultimately, Mad Tracks is a paper-thin game that tries to disguise its flimsy value by offering up a bunch of games that take almost no time to beat at all. Supposedly the developers are planning to add more minigames to the package via microtransactions, but by the time that actually happens, you'll have completely forgotten about this utterly unimpressive racer and moved on to any number of something elses. Unless you're really hot to drop $10 on something that's barely amusing enough to fill 30 minutes, you can safely skip out on Mad Tracks.

Mad Tracks is a missed hit. Conceptually, Mad Tracks should have made a decent Xbox Live title with its light hearted racing and fun approach. In the end Mad Tracks comes out feeling cheap and underdeveloped. I would advise you avoid Mad Tracks and save your points for another title with more substance. If you’re still not convinced on Mad Tracks value, or you have some MS points you’re thinking on using up, download the demo and give it a shot, although I wouldn't put another drop into this tank.