Hotshot Racing

Lore & Background

Hotshot Racing originated more than ten years before its release as Racing Apex, a Unity-based game focused on destructible vehicles and combat, initially targeted for iOS. The project was developed by Trevor Ley and the other members of Lucky Mountain Games. In 2018, Sumo Digital joined the project, expanding the available game modes, overseeing a change of game engine to Sumo's in-house engine, and targeting the game for more platforms. The game was announced on 26 February 2020 and released on 10 September 2020.

The game is illustrated in a low-poly art style. The developers cited Virtua Racing, Hard Drivin', and Winning Run as inspirations for the art style, and Daytona USA and Ridge Racer as inspirations for the color palette. It was released in an era where simulation-style racing games had largely displaced arcade-style racers. When asked why they produced an arcade-style racer, the developers responded that contemporary racing games had become very similar, reusing the same set of licensed vehicles and tracks, and also cited nostalgia for arcade racers.

Gameplay revolves around drifting and slipstreaming. Drifting is performed by pressing the brake button while turning, and the player can control the tightness of the turn. Drifting and slipstreaming charge a boost gauge, which can be spent for a burst of speed. The game includes modes such as head-to-head races, Grand Prix, Cops & Robbers (a mode about chasing down other players), and Drive or Explode (a speed-based elimination mode). Players choose from eight characters, each associated with a nationality and having four vehicles with different parameters for speed, acceleration, and drifting ability.

Reader's Guide

Hotshot Racing received mixed reviews, with 64% of critics recommending the game according to OpenCritic. Many reviewers praised the game's visual style and its evocation of 1990s arcade game influences. Eurogamer's Martin Robinson said the game 'successfully invokes the spirit of the 90s arcade' but described the tracks and overall game as forgettable due to a perceived lack of detail and innovation from its inspirations. PC Mag's Jeffrey Wilson praised the racing and found the game captured the 'look and feel of classic retro racers' but criticized the track design and the adaptive difficulty of computer-controlled racers. The Guardian's Keith Stuart described it as a 'slick callback' to 90s-era racing games. Nintendo Life's Chris Scullion praised the visuals, driving mechanics, faithfulness of its visual style, and characters, while noting the amount of content and dynamic difficulty as downsides. Push Square's Stephen Tailby praised the art style, soundtrack, handling, and alternate modes, while criticizing the 'simple' track design. Multiplayer.it's Andrea Palmisano wrote positively about the aesthetics and multiplayer modes but overall found the game repetitive. Some reviewers commented on the amount of content, such as the quantity of tracks; Tailby described it as a 'modestly sized offering'. Others expressed concerns about the amount of content available for solo players outside of Grand Prix mode.

Did You Know?

• Hotshot Racing originated more than ten years before its release as a game called Racing Apex, focused on destructible vehicles and combat.
• The game was originally targeted for an iOS release before Sumo Digital joined the project in 2018.
• The game includes a mode called Drive or Explode, a speed-based elimination mode.