343rd played so far
Genre: Driving/Racing
Platform: Mega Drive
Year of Release: 1994
Developer: Supersonic Software
Publisher: Codemasters
It’s been a while since we played the first Micro Machines. We enjoyed it – a colourful racer that allowed and encouraged you to go off-track, furnished with loads of household items to serve as obstacles and parts of the track.
One of the sequels’s biggest improvements (that matters to us) is its introduction of different vehicle types, such as helicopters and hovercrafts. Enough to have fun with today!
Our Thoughts
The core of Micro Machines, racing around colourful tracks decorated with household items to make the game seem more to scale, has not changed in its sequel. It’s just as much fun racing around tables (still uncleaned after breakfast), sinks gardens and so on. The graphics have been polished, the controls tightened and everything feels a bit nicer – smoother – but the same game is essentially still there, with more courses.
The bigger change then comes from the vehicles, and those are what convinced me I must have played Micro Machines 2 when I was younger, rather than the first game, as I remembered a number of them. You race around using helicopters, avoiding more obstacles, can move over water using hovercrafts, and various different cars handle differently.
Still, on the whole, the formula is still there and the game plays well as a pretty fun top down racer. They’ve not messed much with a winning formula – if anything, the chances might feel a bit too limited – but for this game that simply works.
Final Thoughts
When playing this game I began to think about all the racing games that get released now in comparison. I could not think of a mainstream console racing game in a long time that made use of a top-down viewpoint. It’s just a reminder of how far games have come as a medium in some ways but also how much of a loss this is. I mean, who wouldn’t love to see a new super realistic MicroMachines racing game?