Hotshot Racing

High on speed and low on polygons, Hotshot Racing is a fun, old-school ode to the golden era of early '90s 3D racers.

An enjoyable and detailed racer successfully invokes the spirit of the 90s arcade, even if it doesn't quite have a spark of its own.

Feel the polygonal burn as super-speed graphics bring old-fashioned car chases a fresh thrill

I have to admit, I found Hotshot Racing to be quite enamoring. I don't have much nostalgia for the early days of 3D racing games, but I do appreciate a good arcade racer, and that's exactly what this is. Its cheery sound design and visuals are endlessly charming and the driving feels exactly as it should. If you feel the need to go back to the simpler days of racing games, this certainly fits the bill. This likely won't be the last time I take it for a lap around the track.

Hotshot Racing is an unapologetic return to arcade action, and it's brilliant fun. This game's charming retro aesthetic, sweeping powerslides, and glorious handling are a constant joy, and a perfect antithesis to the myriad simulators on PS4. Some might find the courses don't provide much of a challenge, and we'd gladly have taken a little more content, but you'll be hard pushed to find a better example of straight-up arcade racing this generation.

If the look of Hotshot Racing appeals to you and you can appreciate the aesthetic delights of something that looks deliberately low-fi and polygonal, the action it offers on the track does an excellent job of backing up the game's style with substance. It may have its quirks and it may turn you into a paranoid conspiracy theorist ready to tell tales of rubber-banding to anyone who'll listen to you, but hey: that just adds to the authenticity of the era it's based on. This is a fine racing title that truly nails its driving mechanics and delivers an exhilarating experience that will captivate newcomers and veterans alike.

Hotshot Racing is a refreshing blast of retro-arcade racing action.

Frustrations aside, though — and I’ll emphasise that your tolerance for such frustrations will likely be largely dependent on if you grew up with PS1 and PS2-era racing games in particular — Hotshot Racing is a fine addition to today’s lineup of modern arcade racers. It’s not so long ago that the arcade racer was considered to be a completely dead genre — but between a variety of very different takes on it that we’ve seen over the last few years, including this, Slipstream, Cruis’n Blast, Horizon Chase Turbo and Inertial Drift, it’s clear that it’s not just alive and well, but thriving.

Harkening back to the classic arcade racers you’d gleefully waste your £2 coin on at the back of Hollywood Bowl, Hotshot Racing is a no-frills racing game with simple but satisfying mechanics to entice even the most hardcore racers.

Hotshot Racing is a go-faster stripe of a game that comfortably outpaces the likes of GearClub Unlimited and Horizon Chase Turbo. Well designed tracks and responsive handling give the game the substance that is equal to its stylish looks.