DeVuego ES_COR

En definitiva, Super Toy Cars Offroad tiene algunas cosillas que como decía Peter Griffin, “Grind my Gears”. Son decisiones de diseño que hasta para un jugador más joven no se encuentra explicación y están directamente relacionadas con su jugabilidad. Sin embargo, si pasas esas primeras horas, consigues más vehículos, empiezas a conocerte las pistas y a usar los potenciadores y el derrape like a boss, la percepción cambia notablemente.

I have played all of the Super Toy Cars franchise and it’s been a long rocky road of good and bad experiences. Going Offroad and overhauling so much I went in hoping for a new fresh take on it all. I can report back that it’s still a mixed bag. They have indeed improved the handling and introduced a sometimes cool sometimes can be an absolute dick drift system, the atmosphere is better and in general, all the cars/vehicles look cool. I like how they have gone for a crazy amount of cups and events that is almost a celebration of all things Super Toy Cars to date. I am still miffed however that they have left I. The over the top hit collision crap, just tapping a wall or obstacle can seriously destroy any race it was a bitch in the last game, and it’s an even bigger bitch here. As a casual racer, Super Toy Cars is a lot better and I would add it’s the best of the franchise but it still needs a bit more tinkering because a game that has off-road in the title, it sure does penalize you hard for going off-road! I played more of this than any other of the games so it does have something but I also rage quit a lot so it’s definitely a marmite situation. For me, Super Toy Cars Offroad is a good addition and the better offering of the series.

Having said all that, the core driving experience found in Super Toy Cars Offroad is fun. It’s fast and hectic, the majority of races will keep you engaged and you will really have to prove yourself to be first across that finish line. Add in some split-screen multiplayer, and you get more replay value. It would have been nice to have the ability to be able to have more players racing, but as an indie title, you have to give Eclipse games a lot of credit for still packing a lot of racing in here.

Overall, Super Toy Cars Offroad is just not good, at least not for me. I enjoy a goofy arcade racer intended for children occasionally and love classics like Mario Kart and Cruisin’ USA. This sadly lowered the bar of expectations for me from this developer in their near future. The last game took around 4-5 years to develop while this one was less than two years. It feels rushed when racing through the tracks and learning the levels becomes a chore with trying to manage the dreadful physics on top of normal map memorization. This makes it even more luck based having one lap work flawlessly, then getting thrown around and hitting invisible hitboxes taking the same path lap 2. At least the power ups aren’t overpowered and not a huge threat, which is sad to say about any racer with item usage and combat mechanics. The game isn’t hard, just needs more polishing to work out the issues. I would pick this game up only on new game sale if you love this genre or wait for a better sale in the future. You would have more fun just playing the second Super Toy Cars game, as I believe that’s the best entry yet. The shoddy gameplay for Offroad allows the music and visuals to outshine, even if they aren’t a beacon of light to bathe in.

One of the worst kart racers to be released in recent times, lacking decent track design, tight controls, visual flair, fair A.I, and is far from an optimised experience. Hideously broken on almost every level, this is something a “simple patch” cannot remedy.