Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged Review

thesixthaxis.com:

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged is the unwieldily titled sequel to Hot Wheels Unleashed, the 2021 surprise hit from developer and publisher Milestone. These days, two years feels like a pretty quick turnaround for a sequel, so does Turbocharged manage to be anything more than a slightly shinier version of the original game?

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged is an arcade racer, aimed at young and old gamers alike. As such, it made sense to tag in an assistant reviewer for this game; my 7-year-old son. The two of us had ploughed in more time than I dare to think into the original game. In fact, with only 7 tours of the sun under his belt, the total time my son spent playing Unleashed likely adds up to a terrifyingly high percentage of his life so far. You can imagine then, that when I told him I was reviewing Turbocharged he genuinely squealed with glee. After having had such a grand time with the original game, both his, and my, expectations were sky-high for the sequel. Thankfully, I’m delighted to reveal that Turbocharged met, and exceeded, all of them.

Milestone has gone with the classic approach to sequel making: take the original and make it better in each and every way possible. The core racing mechanics have been tidied up immensely, so cars now feel much sturdier and more responsive in their handling, with none of the annoying flip-flopping out of control for no good reason that so plagued the original game. Boosting and drifting have also been refined, ensuring that the racing feels much punchier, and more dynamic than it did before.

There are some fresh additions to the formula too, with the inclusion of strafes and jumps. These new skills could be overbearing, but they are smartly limited by requiring the