Hotshot Racing Review (PlayStation 4)
Hotshot Racing is a blisteringly fast arcade-style racing game fusing drift handling, razor-sharp retro visuals, and an incredible sense of speed to create an exhilarating driving experience.
Pros:
- Awesome graphics.
- 4.54mb download size.
- Platinum trophy.
- Racing gameplay.
- Four modes-Grand Prix, Single Race, Time Trial and Online.
- Audio preset-SFX focus, environment focus, custom, default, and music focus.
- Arcade game presentation.
- Grand Prix-four cups-The tour/Pro circuit/Racing elite and hotshot.
- Three difficulties-normal, hard, and expert.
- 8 characters who each have their own garage of cars with unique stats. You can personalize your character by buying or winning races.
- Manual and automatic gear option.
- Arcade racing with drift mechanic for building your turbo up.
- Race replays.
- Earn cash from racing and it depends on your position.
- Can pan the camera around.
- Five driving views including the in-car view.
- Aggressive AI even on easy.
- Your character will shout things out as you drive.
- Car customisation options-palette, skin, bonnet, front bumper, rear bumper, wheels, side skirt, boot, spoiler, exhaust, hood blower, headlights, rear lights, steering wheel, dashboard, accessories, and Bobbleheads.
- Unlock new options for your car by doing certain tasks and you can see what the task is.
- Actions-you can drift to fill your boost or draft someone for an immediate boost.
- Boost start.
- Characters have an ending after finishing the Grand Prix.
- Four race locations-Coast, desert, jungle, and mountain. Each has four tracks on them.
- Online leaderboards and staff ghost times.
- The single race has 3 game modes-arcade, cops n robbers, and drive or explode. Set difficulty and lap amount.
- Online-quick race, ranked race, join a game (filters and browser), and host (private/friends/public).
- Online multiplayer supports 2-8 players.
- Online multiplayer allows bots to be added.
Cons:
- Twitchy driving.
- AI is very aggressive.
- No tutorial race.
- Only one control layout.
- Only a couple of skins for characters.
- Music is not a strong point.
- Can’t save replays.
- Graphics - 9/109/10
- Sound - 8/108/10
- Accessibility - 9/109/10
- Length - 9/109/10
- Fun Factor - 9/109/10
Summary
Hotshot Racing is a marriage of retro and modern, racing and skill, it brings all kinds of racers from the last few generations of games and makes a cohesive and addictive shooter. Pulling inspiration from games like Daytona USA, Outrun and Burnout, Hotshot Racing is a game that makes arcade racing fun again with a solid responsive drifting system, fun varied locations, and a presentation that you cannot help but smile at. Whilst I needed a few initial races to learn the drifting, it soon became second nature and the joy has never stopped. Overall I found Hotshot Racing to be one of the best modern retro games this generation.
