I don’t know how this happened, but I had no idea that a) this existed and b) it was out today. Perhaps it was the long distant memories of the Kinect version, or simply some kind of gaming hangover from Minecraft last week, but Joy Ride Turbo appeared on the schedule like a four-wheeled Ninja, and somehow managed to impress me on every level I can think of.
In short, for 800 Points, this is absolutely brilliant. Why? Because it takes the best bits of ModNation Racers (mainly the visual style and some of the handling) and adds dashes of Mario Kart (the weapons and the playful multiplayer) and mixes it all up into a great looking, slick controlling and totally packed little download that’s honestly better than a lot of the full price retail stuff.
For starters, it looks fabulous. It’s 30fps, but it’s rock solid and there’s oodles of motion blur to give the impression that it’s smoother than it is. The visual style is gorgeous – very cartoon like – and because it uses your own Avatar there’s an instant connection that you don’t always get with games like this. The tracks are varied visually and the menus, UI and overall presentation is ace.
Then there’s the handling, which is split over three vehicle groups and over more than 40 cars – it’s a drift heavy game but the power-sliding mechanic is sound without being too easy to pull off properly. It’s not as sticky as Mario Kart but not as loose as MNR, the middle ground a happy medium meaning that anyone can just dive in but the better players will always win the most races.
Races, which cover a multitude of modes including Pro (weapons-free) and a full Championship circuit, are action packed and brisk, and can be played by a single player, split screen with four players or online, which in the few quick goes I had was entirely lag free, even on my pitiful connection. Quick Races are found instantly, and you can set up Private rooms too.
The weapons are a little woolly – the icons taking some getting used to and the position of the icon isn’t terribly smart – but the option to abandon them entirely is welcome. Online everyone votes for a race type and track, and one is selected at random which seems like a fair enough way to ensure that the same courses don’t appear in rotation every single time.
The original Kinect Joy Ride wasn’t very good – it was too lightweight and the controls were silly – this, though, is wonderful. It’s priced well, comes with some added extras like two stunt courses in addition to the racetracks, and the collect-em-all mentality of the cars and skins will add a fair amount of longevity to the overall game. I’m impressed, this is great fun.
Joy Ride Turbo is out now for 800 Microsoft Points.
rossthebassist
I remeber when joyride was supposed to be a free to play game… ahhh the memories :)
nofi
Yeah, true enough, but with the microtransactions you’d probably end up paying more than 800 Points.
bmg_123
Love the clean-cut graphical style! Although I’ll wait until the verdict on LBP: Karting is in before I buy any of the 3 current games to choose from…
tyrant161
Got this game last night and it’s fantastic. I was gutted when the first joyride got turned into a kinect only game but this turbo version really shines with the use of a joypad.
Kivi95
Hmm don’t like the graphicsal style and theTHE Xbox avatars at all :/
Forrest_01
Did anyone else expect to see Wile E Coyote in the background of that first pic?
hazelam
it’s funny you mention that because looking at the small version of that pic, i thought that cactus in the middle was the roadrunner.
LTG Davey
Nice, could be fun. I like these little 800point games
hazelam
it’s not exactly surprising you weren’t that aware of this game, ms didn’t really go out of their way to draw attention to it.
it’ll probably be decent now it’s an actual game, but a game like this needs multiplayer, and i don’t pay for gold so i’ll give the demo a try but i won’t be buying.
Moshbag
How are the best bits of Modnation Racers the visual style and some of the handling? I’d say both are pretty forgettable next to the incredible track editor.
stage1
This is what Joy Ride should have been. And also it should have been free.