Table Top Racing Review

Mobile games have come a long way from the likes of Snake on the Nokia 3310, so much so that mobile games are being ported to full-fledged consoles. You would have been called mad if you suggested such an idea 10 years ago.

Table Top Racing on the PlayStation Vita is one example of this. It's obvious to tell that it was a mobile game to start with from the layout of the menus and simplicity of the controls, but that doesn't mean it feels out of place on the powerful Vita.

Clearly inspired by the brilliant Micro Machines series (which totally needs a refresh), Table Top Racing lets you race teenie-tiny vehicles around household paraphernalia in a series of standard events: Pure Race, Combat, Drift, Pursuit, Speed Trial, Elimination and Hot Lap.

Some are blatantly titled but event types such as Pursuit and Combat aren't exactly groundbreaking. Pursuit pits you against one other vehicle with the objective being to touch them with your car in a set time frame - cat and mouse, essentially - and Combat is simply a Pure Race event with weapons, which is why there's an event called Pure Race in the first place.

Power-ups and weapons consist of bombs (which are essentially mines), missiles, EMP strikes and boosts. Again, pretty ordinary things. Cars can be won by completing championships and purchased by spending in-game currency, obtained from completing events. The garage also allows players the opportunity to modify all the cars they have earned using the same credit. Stats of the cars can be upgraded as well as changing the paint job and wheels. New wheels add boosts and mobility modifications at a hefty price but are necessary to get the top three stars on every event by either topping the races or beating the times set. I did feel that once I’d maxed out one of the purchased car’s stats, I found myself not needing to switch between other vehicles to complete any of the events, making many of the other ones redundant.

The Championship event modes are again on a relatively standard layout but have a very bizarre difficulty curve that doesn't seem to have standard trend. I went from grabbing three stars on one race to being unable to get two on the very next event, then back to getting three again. After finishing with those, there are a series of special events to sink your thumbs into, all featuring specific cars and specific rule sets, therefore giving some reasoning for the variety of cars throughout the game.

Most mobile games that have in-game currency make microtransactions part-and-parcel of the whole experience. Table Top Racing is no different but to its credit it doesn't shove the idea down your throat with notifications every five minutes, or limit you to a small amount of events until you run out of coins. Every vehicle is within reach of purchasing through the standard means but the microtransactions are there if you want/need them.

Although there isn’t an awful lot in terms of sheer gob-smacking innovation or content, multiplayer is big seller with Table Top Racing. Expect some fierce battles to take place in the confines of your friends or over the PlayStation Network with up to four players able to take part at once.

Table Top Racing runs in sublime fashion at a stable 60FPS - a credit to how well the developers of this game, Playrise Digital, have ported it from mobile to the fledgling Sony handheld. Sure, it’s not the most graphically intense title but the colours pop on the Vita’s screen and despite its general mobile feel, evident from the aforementioned menus and bare-bone features, the game feels at home on the Vita - even the Rear Touch Pad is utilised to glance behind at your competitors mid-race. In addition, if you aren’t a fan of the traditional ‘Rear Shot’ camera angle, then you can always opt for the popular ‘Classic’ angle, giving you a rolling bird’s eye view of the track - another nod to the past.

Without delving into specifics of the game, there’s little else to say about Table Top Racing other than it is a great, big, bundle of fun. Some people may feel that the £4.99/$7.99 price tag may be a little too much to pay for what is essentially a mobile phone game, but I would ask them to consider the quality of one such mobile phone game. Care and attention has been taken to make Table Top Racing look as good as it can on Vita and that is, in my opinion, reason enough to pick a copy up for yourself and your buddies too. It may be some time before we see a rejuvenation of the popular Micro Machines brand, but rest assured, Playrise Digital have you covered in the meantime with a highly enjoyable, modern take on the mini-car racing series.