They're nicely detailed, sleek yet muscled in design, and there are dozens of them, each resembling the most exotic of sports car designs around. Visually, the three or four cars I saw do indeed look just like Hot Wheels cars, but they don't look kiddy, crappy, or stupid, they look like cars you'd want to drive. For starters, I love a car that has a bitchen' (yes, bitchen') big, roaring engine sound, and these cars all sound powerfully jacked with horsepower and hopefully some kind of nitro boosts. Second, Beyond Games has imagined what it would be to make Hot Wheels cool again, and to break from the stodgy old perception that people like me have ingrained in their foggy old brains. Think what you want about Motor Mayhem (and I agree, it was a rather average car-combat game), but the game was stacked to the hilt graphically, bragging all sorts of great particle effects, and as a 3D engine goes, Motor Mayhem's was a very good one.

First, Beyond Games, the folks who made Motor Mayhem, are developing Hot Wheels. So, I learned a few things that have put my cynicisms in check, for now. If this game had pretty much in any way fit into that description, I was fully prepared to smile, check the 'I thought so' box in my head, and not like it. The whole concept of Hot Wheels racing in my mind smacks of those old plastic gold rails, the red tongues that connected them, pre-made vertical loops, funny cars, hot rods, and '70s sedans with jacked up rear ends, giant engines bulging from their hoods, with valves, smoke, and shining chrome glinting everywhere.

Hot Wheels still in my mind reeks of some kids racing game, something that may have once been cool, but certainly isn't now.

When I think of Hot Wheels, I instantly think of Match Box cars, which is CERTAINLY anathema to both parties, but hey, it's not my fault I collected both when I was a kid, and that over the years they melded into one in my mind. Hot Wheels and its opponent brand, Match Box cars, are indeed different. But before I delve into that, let's get something straight, something that THQ and the folks at Hot Wheels think about all the time.

Hot wheels velocity x pc gog