HOT WHEELS UNLEASHED 2 - Turbocharged Review

When the original HOT WHEELS UNLEASHED released back in 2021, it was far better than anyone had expected. Developer Milestone's high-speed, arcadey love letter to the toys so many of us grew up with was an absolute blast to play. As a developer, Milestone is usually associated with simulation-focused motorcycle videogames, making Unleashed a refreshing change of pace and a way for a whole new audience to be introduced to a developer that is passionate about racing. Now we have HOT WHEELS UNLEASHED™ 2 - Turbocharged, which is set to build upon its predecessor with new modes, environments, and, of course, vehicles!

Whilst the main single-player mode remains largely unchanged, both the new Creature Rampage and Unleashed's City Rumble are based around the same premise; there is the addition of an actual storyline this time around. The madcap Professor Tanabe has created a machine that can clone any small objects and turn them into life-sized replicas. Unfortunately, the overzealous Professor tested his machine on five different Hot Wheels track pieces that just so happened to be some rather nasty creatures. It's up to our heroic duo, Darla and Robert, to shrink them back down to size and defeat them before they can grow back to their monstrous proportions again. There's some nonsensical scientific reasoning behind it all, but the main point is that the two drivers get to shrink down to miniature versions of themselves and jump into Hot Wheels cars. It's 100% aimed at children, with a feeling of a generic Saturday morning cartoon about it, although it is certain to keep them entertained between races. I will admit, though, there were more than a few times I cracked a smile at the corny jokes!

These "deadly" creatures add a lot of fun to already exciting tracks!

Visually, Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 is stunning, and the recreation of these tiny toy motors are insanely detailed. These virtual plastic and metal delights are faithful to the originally produced toys they resemble, even down to the tiniest detail, such as the plastic mould seams where two parts join together. Not content with just having pristine-looking models, though, Milestone has created a damage system that's so lifelike, it continually impressed and amazed me. If you were the type of kid to send your Hot Wheels flying through the air, smashing into walls, and crashing them into each other, then you'll know the battle scars these things can accumulate. Just like the real versions, bumps and scuffs will crop up on specific edges, paint will flake off, revealing the plastic underneath, and stickers will be slowly worn away. You can even spot fingerprints on the windshields! I spent far too much time in photo mode close to the end of a race just to admire the war wounds my vehicle had gathered during a frantic sprint around a particularly tight-curved track.

This impressive visual design also extends to the environments and tracks themselves. With five different backdrops to choose from (Backyard, Mini Golf Course, Arcade room, Gas Station, and Dinosaur Museum), each including 10 tracks, there's a good variety of gravity-defying courses available! It all looks exactly how I remember the bright, blocky colours of track pieces I'd assemble with my friends back in the 90s, so 10/10 for the nostalgia factor alone!

Of course, if you grow tired of the vehicle liveries and track designs Unleashed 2 offers, why not design your own? For vehicles, you can now create your own stickers before applying them to any of your unlocked motors in the livery editor. This lets you start with a blank template of your selected car/bike and customise everything from the chassis colour to the material of the rims before adding up to 1,000 layers of stickers. As for the track builder, it works the same as it did in Unleashed, but the additional track pieces expand this already robust creation tool, and I can see myself getting hooked on designing the most stomach-churning looped courses imaginable.

Say hello to the GrinMobile!

Gameplay in Unleashed 2, much like its predecessor, sees you flying (sometimes literally when faced with a huge ramp) around courses in various different game modes, with the aim being to outdrive your opponents and be the first across the finish line. Alongside standard races and time attacks, we also have an elimination mode, which will remove the vehicle in last place every few seconds. There's also the drift event, where sliding around corners and avoiding obstacles is the name of the game, as well as waypoint races, in which you're given free rein of the environment and must race from checkpoint to checkpoint without being confined to a track. The two online exclusive modes, Clash Derby and Grab The Gears, are fun new additions that focus more on ramming your opponents than being the first across the finish line. Whilst it's a shame these are only available for the online multiplayer, they nonetheless make for a fun time!

Mechanics such as boosting and drifting (which not only allows you to maintain speed around corners but also refills your boost meter) will be in constant use as you zip around these miniature plastic tracks, but the new ability to dash also comes in handy. Whether it's to quickly avoid an approaching hazard or just to give a competitor a not-so-friendly shove off the edge of a table, it's a simple mechanic that kept me in first place on more than one occasion! Then there's the jump feature, which again helps to avoid obstacles but also gives the more daring players the opportunity to find shortcuts, shaving precious seconds off time trials.

If you've played a kart racer before, then you'll know what to expect with Unleashed 2. Thankfully, the handling is superb and sliding around a corner at a 90-degree angle always felt super slick and satisfying. No matter where you are on the course or what vehicle you're racing in, controls are responsive and tight, feeling exactly like an arcade racing game should feel. That doesn't mean the computer-controlled opponents are a breeze to beat — unless you opt for the child-friendly, easy difficulty — and will certainly put your skills to the test. Whilst it is possible to leave them in the dust, more often than not I found they were right on my tail, waiting for me to make a mistake so they could blaze right past me.

I am available for hire for any professional photoshoots with tiny toy cars

Unlocking new vehicles seems to be more streamlined in Unleashed 2, as now, although you still have a random selection of cars to purchase that rotates every few real-time hours, you can opt to spend a small amount of cash (all in-game currency, no microtransactions in sight here!) to reshuffle the selection. None of the various rarity levels feel over-priced, and money comes easily enough just by playing the game, and with over 130 vehicles to purchase and unlock, it never felt like I was tirelessly grinding away to unlock a particularly cool-looking car.

Although there isn't much of a difference from the previous title, Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 - Turbocharged is still, without question, an incredibly fun arcade racer. Detailed vehicles, tracks, and environments are just the tip of the iceberg, as the gameplay is flawlessly smooth, the campaign enjoyable (more so for the young ones), and the customisation options are in abundance. It's hard to find many negative points, although a few extra game modes would have been nice — especially in single-player — this is still a sheer delight of an arcade racing game that will appeal to both young and old alike.