Table top racing: world tour Nitro edition

Table top racing is a game that has been developed by Playrise Digital and published by Greenlight Games which is going to make your inner child jump with joy at the possibility of a return to the days of micro machines back in the 90’s, well that was my initial thoughts when I first cast a eye on this game 3 years ago with its initial release on to the ps4. But don’t worry I am not here to review a 3 year old game what I am hear to talk about is the port onto the switch that was released on the 1^st May, I will get to the comparison at the end but first things first a bit of info about how the game handles.

So as the name suggests Table top racing is driving miniature car’s around various table top locations ranging from workbench style design to yoyo sushi restaurants and even a beach style area, in total there are 8 different themed locations that you will be driving, shooting and speeding your way around covering a decent 32 different tracks with each location giving you 4 circuits.

Table top racing isn’t just a bog standard racing game, don’t get me wrong you do have the pure mode of racing where it is just the skills of the driver and the raw power of the car to take you to victory but there is more than just that. There are a few different race types in the game that you will need to work through especially as you move through the championships ranging from battle races where you will have a choice of 8 different weapons and 6 unique wheels weapons to utilise to take first place. You also will find the standard time trial mode as you expect in any racer, there is a chase style race where you need to catch up and slam into a rival car on the track. The championships are split into 3 sections with 4 cups in each to win and each cup has a certain amount of starts you can complete, for example the first one has 18 stars that you can earn which is made up of 6 races where each one gives you 1-3 stars depending on where you finish in the top 3. As you complete the cups you will unlock more cups in the other championships starting with cult classics moving on to street racers and finally supercars.

There is also a special events section of races which again have 3 sections to them which are cult classics etc as with the champion ships where each race will have different rules or restrictions on them that you must have the right cars and equipment to take part.

Finally but no means last you also have multiplayer which it would be criminal to not include this in a game like this, you can play split screen on and off line with the pack being filled up with AI offline if you wish or you can go 1 on 1 with a mate and really show who is boss. The only thing I will add is unless you have unlocked cars you and friends you play with in split screen will only have the choice of the cars you have unlocked to race with, but that said I found this was a great way of finding the coins that are dotted around the tracks to earn big money to unlock more cars and upgrades.

When you start playing Table top racing you will have to buy your first car to begin with you will only have enough cash to unlock one of the cars from the cult classics section of cars, but they will be good enough to get you started. Each of the cars have their own unique look to them and have the usual upgrade options such as speed, acceleration, handling, armour, wheels and a choice of paint jobs. I will warn you that you will want to start chucking upgrades into you cars ASAP and that’s all well and good but remember to hold onto some cash to unlock a car for the next tier other wise you will find your self having to grind for coins at a later date. In total you have a range of 16 cars to unlock and customise as you progress through the game.

The game controls are nice and simple to get to grips with and if you have every played Mario kart or anything along those lines you will work out the fire weapons buttons without any prompting, there is also wheel weapons that you unlock by upgrading the wheels in the garage. The cars are all responsive and are simple to use, the game handles well and on the whole it looks really good and it is bright and colourful game that is easy to play.

So onto the comparisons between the switch and the previous release that I mentioned I would do, one thing that the switch edition definitely has over the PS4 edition I played is the split screen play which gives it a much better social element to the game and something that comes in handy on train journeys with mates. The game handles equally was well as I did when I first picked it up years ago though I swear I found the game so much easier this time round but that might be due to previous experience with the game or maybe my days of writing for Stoffel are finally paying off and I am just getting better at gaming….. yeah, I know its probably because I played it before but hey a guy can hope!

So one thing I will bring up as a concern between the new nitro edition to the original release is the price, I know this comes with all the DLC that got released on the PS4 so It is a bigger game but the ps4 edition is only £7.99 with the DLC costing you another £9.99 totally £17.98 where as this game on the switch is going to set you back £24.99. that being said you are getting the split screen and the mobility that the switch grants you, so it is swings and roundabouts

Overall the game plays well and I would give 7/10 but due to the pricing structure being so hugely different I am going to give the value of money I don’t feel the split screen is worth the extra cost.