Hot Wheels Let’s Race: Ultimate Speed Review

If you are like me and have spent hours sending little metal cars flying off orange plastic ramps as a child, Hot Wheels Let’s Race: Ultimate Speed is like watching those childhood memories roar back to life. It oozes everything the Hot Wheels brand stands for with tracks, jumps, and enough neon orange to go blind. It’s not a racing sim or a racing expansion through another game, and it’s definitely not trying to be. Instead, it’s pure arcade fun easy to pick up, easy to play, and a total blast for anyone who just wants to go really, really fast.

Right from the opening screen, Ultimate Speed sets the tone of this is marketed at a kid audience with its art style and interactions and very basic UI and options that you are presented with. The tutorial wastes no time getting you into the action and solidifies throughout the whole game that this is more of a kart racing game more than anything.

Within minutes you’re boosting, speeding through loops, drifting around corners, and hitting those iconic Hot Wheels jumps that send your car flipping through midair. The controls are simple and super responsive which is great for up-and-coming speedsters and can be enjoyed adult of kids alike.

That simplicity is both a strength and a weakness. The game feels instantly accessible, but fans of racing titles and franchise might find it a bit too forgiving and lose interest quickly. Even if you crash, you’ll respawn almost instantly. Hitting walls sometimes just feels like you are being thrown side to side with no way to recover. The AI isn’t particularly aggressive with a lack of items like in most kart racers, and most races can be won with a couple of well-timed boosts.

Gameplay in Ultimate Speed is designed around the iconic orange track and keeping you moving at top speed. The tracks are full of twists, loops, jumps, and hazards that make every race but are somewhat lacking in length and feel short. The creativity here is awesome, and it nails that “Hot Wheels fantasy world” vibe perfectly with an array or orange track pieces that allow you to perform stunts and hit loops at full speed. Whilst not entirely difficult during races it is very good for entry level with a choice of Easy, Medium and Hard modes to gauge what kind of expirence you’d like.

The most important part of the game obviously are cars which each have different stats though the differences are fairly subtle. Still, collecting them is half the fun. There’s a variety of vehicles to unlock through racing and earning Flame Badges from Rally trucks to Rubber Ducks, with each car having a special ability able to used in the races as well as decals to slap on the back of them as a sense of accomplishment. There are plenty to choose from and having a combination of character, car and special ability really helps in some of the more tricker races that focus on certain mechanics more often such as drifts and long straights.

There’s a fair chunk of content packed into Ultimate Speed The single-player campaign whilst short takes you through multiple themed circuits, each capped off by a boss fight every couple of races. The bosses are whacky and childish but still fun, if a little predictable, and they add just enough personality to keep things interesting. Also for achivement entusiasts there are plenty rewards for repetitionand play styles. Beyond the main campaign, there are time trials, a free-play mode for when you just want to mess around as well as a Track Builder section filled with a couple of challenges and eventually you can build custom tracks with classic hot wheel pieces like Thunder Turns and all sorts of crazy loops which can then be played over and over in the free play mode with up to 4 players at a time.

The target audience here is clearly kids. The game’s generous physics, forgiving tracks and generally chilled AI all make it very approachable. There’s almost no punishment for mistakes miss a jump or hit a wall, and you’re instantly back in the action. That makes it perfect for younger gamers who just want to have fun, but it also means older players might find it lacking in challenge very quickly.

If you’re looking for a real skill-testing racer, this probably isn’t it. If you’re looking for something colourful, fast, and stress-free and something for you to unwind and the kids to get stuck into some nostalgia and share memories about Hot Wheels and childhood then this is definitely a great shout.