Mad Tracks
Spring-powered toy car racing through everyday environments.
Mad Tracks (released as Small Cars 3D in France) is a 2006 racing video game from Load Inc., a Paris studio founded in 2003 by former Ubisoft employees. It was the studio’s first title. The game was initially planned as a licensed product based on Darda toy cars, but after Load Inc. could not secure the intellectual rights to the Darda brand, the project was reworked and renamed.
Players control spring-powered model cars that race and play minigames in everyday settings like a bistro, toy store, or mini golf course, all rendered in 3D. The cars have spring-powered batteries: the longer you accelerate, the weaker the spring becomes, and once it runs out, you cannot accelerate until you release the button to recharge. Recharging also happens while airborne or reversing, and the spring’s endurance varies by car type. Power-ups can help recharge or drain opponents’ batteries. Players can switch camera angles, including first-person, and can teleport to the last checkpoint manually or automatically if they fall off the track.
The game includes 46 courses split into races and minigames. Races come in formats like laps, point A to point B, time attack, weakest link, or bobsleigh. Minigames include mini golf, billiards, bowling, and table football. Two modes are available: single-player Adventure, where you earn gold trophies by completing objectives (such as driving a track or landing cars on a dartboard), and multiplayer Arcade, which shares the same objectives. Up to four players can play locally via split-screen, and up to eight online. The PC version supports LAN. The Wii and mobile versions are limited to four-player multiplayer.
Development was led by a team of ten people with experience on racing games like POD (1997) and the F-1 Grand Prix series. The developers decided to make a mid-price car game after seeing potential at GDC and E3. Micro Machines (1991) inspired the visuals, split-screen, and multiplayer, while TrackMania (2003) inspired the physics and environment interactions. The studio used proprietary middleware for car physics and racing. Some ideas, like customizable spare parts for cars, were cut. Thomas Leinekugel was project manager, Hervé Nedelec creative director, Florian Pernot lead programmer, Bertrand Carré technical director, Thibault Gicquel level designer, and Nicolas Jeannot and Emmanuel Petit graphic designers.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Load Inc.Load Inc. had also developed the Steam version, under the name "Loadinc. Entertainment".
- Genre
- Racing
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
- Platforms
- Windows, Xbox 360, Wii, iOS
- Composer
- La Chimiz Prod
- Director
- Bertrand Carré / Hervé Nedelec
- Programmer
- Florian Pernot
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Mad Tracks was developed by Load Inc., a Paris-based studio founded in 2003 by former Ubisoft employees Denis Bourdain and Thomas Leinekugel. The team of 10 people had experience developing racing games such as POD (1997) and the F-1 Grand Prix series. After seeing potential for a mid-price car game following GDC and E3, the developers decided to make a licensed game based on Darda toy cars. It was reworked and renamed Mad Tracks after the studio failed to secure the Darda brand's intellectual rights. Two other racing games served as inspiration: Micro Machines (1991) inspired the visuals, split-screen and multiplayer, while TrackMania (2003) inspired the physics and environment interactions.
The game was first revealed as a prototype at E3 in May 2004, where the studio's search for a publisher began. Micro Application became the publisher for the French release in November 2004. The original release was slated for mid to late 2005 but was delayed to February 2006. A public demo was released on January 10, 2006, featuring three courses. The French version of the official website launched on January 13, 2006, with a German version having launched earlier in November 2005. Mad Tracks was released in France on February 17, 2006, for Windows, published by Micro Application, in all Auchan supermarkets of the country. Later that month it was released in German by Frogster Interactive alongside patch version 1.1. Another patch, version 1.2, was released on April 20, 2006. The game was published by Akella and released in Russia on June 13, 2006, featuring two compact discs instead of one. In July 2006 it was released via digital distribution by Element5, and in Poland it was published by Nicolas Games on October 20, 2006.
Reader's Guide
Mad Tracks was a commercial success, selling millions of units across multiple platforms despite a mixed critical reception. The Xbox 360 port was announced in April 2006 and released on May 30, 2007, via Xbox Live Arcade. It became backwards compatible with Xbox One in February 2017. The game was also released on the Wii in Europe in 2009, followed by a mobile port on iOS in 2011 and Android a year later. In February 2019, it was announced that the game was delisted from Xbox Live Arcade because of a change in publishing rights from D3 Publisher to Plug In Digital. The latter released a reworked high-definition version of the game for Steam on March 10, 2020. The Xbox 360 port was one of the first games on the service to feature support for multiple languages and was updated to support DirectX 10, unlike the PC version which only supported DirectX 9. Development of the Xbox 360 port took place over a year with seven employees involved, and the game had to be split into three parts due to Microsoft's 50 MB storage limitation. The game's significance lies in its unique spring-powered battery mechanic, its transition from a failed licensed product to an independent title, and its multi-platform success across PC, consoles, and mobile devices.
Did You Know?
- Mad Tracks was originally a licensed game based on Darda toy cars but was reworked and retitled after the studio failed to secure the brand's intellectual rights.
- The game was delisted from Xbox Live Arcade in February 2019 due to a change in publishing rights.
- A reworked high-definition version was released on Steam on March 10, 2020.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Mad Tracks?
Mad Tracks is a 2006 3D racing game in which you pilot spring-powered model cars through everyday settings such as a bistro, a toy shop, or a mini golf course. It was developed by the Paris studio Load Inc. and first shipped on Windows in February 2006.
Who made Mad Tracks?
The game was produced by Load Inc., a small French studio founded in 2003 by former Ubisoft employees. Mad Tracks was the company's very first released title.
Why is the game called Small Cars 3D in France?
Load Inc. originally planned the project as a licensed Darda toy-car game, but after failing to secure the Darda intellectual-property rights they reworked and renamed the title. In the French market it was published under the alternate name Small Cars 3D.
What is the core gameplay loop in Mad Tracks?
You race and complete minigames with spring-powered model cars whose batteries charge the longer you accelerate, giving you bursts of speed to use strategically. All tracks are built around familiar, small-scale environments rendered in 3D rather than open highways or circuits.
On which platforms can I play Mad Tracks?
The game launched on Windows on February 17, 2006, followed by an Xbox 360 port on May 30, 2007, a Wii version in 2009, and an iOS release in 2011.
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