Rod Hots Hot Rod Racing : Review By Daniel Simpson

Well, who would have guessed the King has a long lost cousin, now given his own driving game! Rod Hot is the picture of 50’s America jet black hair and leather jacket with his name on. Hot rod racing runs along similar lines to the Turbonuke classic Cyclomaniacs, instead in HotRod cars are used instead of bikes. Some of the classic characters from the cyclo gang oppose you in races in 8 different locations all around the world, from the oil rich plains of Nevada to the bumpy roads of London. With a convoy of 12 very different cars from a cop car to an armoured vehicle, you can race all over the world with 5 other cars in a 2D test of skill.

What I loved

The fact that Cyclomaniacs now has a spin of to the former two part series is really cool. I hope that rod himself can add to the ever expanding Cyclomanics family.

Buyable cars, not something that is really that new but now there is so much more you can do with them. After selecting your car, you make your way to Rod’s workshop. The workshop itself has everything you need for your car and even a zombie from Zombooka that appears to be lost. The workshop is your main centre for upgrades and customisation. You can buy upgrades in things like speed and nitros capacity but you can also control things like wheel size, suspension stiffness and ride height(each of there factors are applied to each wheel separately). You’ll have to buy upgrades to increase the range these setting can be applied as. Apart from your skill driving, you will also have to try and you cars setting just right for the particular terrain that you’re covering. There is also a setting which gives you the ability to save custom set ups and name them too! In addition there is randomizer button which is very fun to use, it guarantees some funny cars!

Like many of the LongAnimals games HodRod has the “my music” feature which allows you to upload an mp3 and have it playing as you race. I didn’t have any mp3’s on my new laptop so I just played the sample music just to test the feature. A particular feature I would like is to make a playlist as the same song over and over can be quite annoying.

The bonus levels after the two levels in each location were really unique, they relied on the player’s driving skill to smash all the crates in a certain time to win. After each win the next can becomes unlockable. And something really helpful, is that these levels are skippable too! This gives you the option to unlock the cars you want. 

What I didn’t like and suggested improvements

I said before that I loved the “your music” feature but a playlist tool would be great.

I think it would be good if you were able to choose the character you play as, I respect the fact that it is Rod’s game but playing as different characters may be a welcome side feature. Just like in cyclomanicas 1 different horns, for each car may be a fun thing to add.  I do love the vinyls, they make the cars look nice, giving them extra detail but sometimes the vinyls didn’t really complement the base paints of the cars or I just didn’t like them, so “Colour pickable” vinyls is something that I could enjoy.

I like the turbonuke racers, I've played a lot of them and I particularly like the "Longanimals cheat" which is at the start of a race, mash the up button to accumulate some boost, I was disappointed that this cheat wasn't here.

The wrap up

Great game, fun gameplay and some quite variable and detailed races in 8 different location. The game tests your skill in the normal races and to tune your car to suite the particular terrain and environment. The customizability is fantastic feature, I have never seen it in a 2D racer before. Nice work turbo…

Thank you for reading