Lukewarm, Not Hot

Hotshot Racing attempts to emulate the best parts of Virtua Racing, Daytona, Burnout, and Ridge Racer with the end results being a less than impressive racing game that doesn't even come close to matching the excitement of the titles mentioned above.

But Hotshot Racing does a couple of things right: the number of cars is impressive and the abundance of race modes (even if they are short tracks) are two of its high points. But the things that frustrate me the most, however, are the floaty physics and the atrocious rubber banding AI which is taken way over the top. I don't mind my opponent jostling for a better position, but to aimlessly crash or bump into me for no reason is dumbfounding.

Hotshot Racing isn't a bad game per se, it's just that it isn't a very good one either. Add to that the high price tag and the fact that you can complete the game in one sitting is enough to cause massive road rage in real life. - Nick

A Shot to the Gut

It's been a while since I played an arcade racer that's as frustrating as Hotshot Racing. The countless times I've lost a race because someone slammed into me is damn demoralizing. Heck, I didn't realize games still relied on cheap tactics to keep them challenging.

Hotshot is so close to being a really good arcade game but a few things keep it from finishing first. The graphics are retro-cool, the controls are a little floaty but it gets the job done, and the racing variety is pretty sweet. Unfortunately, much of the promised content is still lacking or missing altogether. It's not a bad game to run a few laps on, I just didn't feel that it provided enough content to satisfy my racing itch. - Ube

Hot Shot

Man, I don't know what my two buddies are smoking, but I thoroughly enjoyed Hotshot Racing. Is it perfect? Of course not, but for a simple arcade racer that pays tribute to Daytona and Virtua Racing, it's good enough. Yeah, the physics engine is spotty but it's never that bad that you can't enjoy a good race. Kudos to the developers for finally bringing this game out.

I grew up playing many of the SEGA games at the local arcades so this one hit me with a wave of nostalgia when I first saw it. So from that standpoint, I'm pretty biased to old-school racing games. I only wish more people were online to play with as the single-player experience gets old quickly. Otherwise, this is my feel-good racing game of the month!