TABLE TOP RACING: WORLD TOUR
Developed and Published by Playrise Digital Ltd.
Available on Steam for PC and PS4
I’ve loved playing the likes of Mario Kart over the years, something I only ever did when visiting my aunty thanks to her having an N64, and Sony’s own iteration, Crash Team Racing. However, that was a decade ago and I’ve not encountered a similar game since until now.
TABLE TOP RACING: WORLD TOUR takes the cute characters away from the manic racing gameplay and gives players proper cars to play with, albeit a little caricaturish. With two championships to complete in novice, intermediate and expert modes and a range of vehicles available in each of the difficulty modes, the game encourages you to finish first, second or third to achieve 3, 2 or 1 star status to unlock more races within the respective championship. Each race, despite the position across the finish line, awards the player points which translates into money to buy upgrades for your motor, upgrades that will improve stability, speed and handling and ultimately will help you to clinch the first place at the end of the race. The higher the position in the race when you cross the finish line, the more points thus money you’ll receive.
Just like the aforementioned games, TABLE TOP RACING: WORLD TOUR has pickups that have some sort of effect when used in game. In the early races, the pick ups, of which you can only collect one at a time and must spend before picking up another, are purely used to boost speed so I like to use them in the straight sections. A few races into the game, more options open up for the pick ups. Selected by random by the CPU, pick ups can be used defensively to produce an oil slick that will send the vehicles behind spinning, a missile to take out the vehicle ahead and EMP’s to wipe out vehicles in a certain radius. The CPU controlled opponents also have the ability to use pick ups so as much as you can cause trouble for the other racers, they can cause problems for you too which is why it’s important to make a break for the lead if the opportunity presents itself.
What makes this game different than the others is its setting. These cars are miniatures racing around a track much bigger than itself. For each different themed race, expect objects linked to that theme littering the track to drive into or avoid. These are also part of the construction of the track. For example, one of the tracks called Back To The 80’s takes place on a desk with various gadgets and items from the 1980’s surrounding it including striped pool balls, rubiks cubes and plasma balls. Others in the game include junkyard, shipyard and even Yo! Sushi themed tracks, each as fun to drive around as the next.
There’s plenty of different styles to race including time trial, elimination, pursuit and combat, each as fun as the next with the colourful cars and great arcade handling. The game is easy to get into and rather addictive to play, especially as you try to get the full three stars for each of the races. Even on its easy setting it can have its challenges. Mess up your racing line and you can find yourself at the back of the pack so a few attempts are sometimes needed whilst other times you can ace the race first time.
TABLE TOP RACING: WORLD TOUR is so much fun to play, you can just jump into it whenever the urge takes you. It’s bright, colourful approach makes it as visually entertaining as it is to play. A well-rounded racing game that refuses to become boring, TABLE TOP RACING: WORLD TOUR is ideal for casual gamers looking for a bit of wild racing mayhem.
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