Hey, kids, remember Micro Machines? No, I don’t necessarily mean those toy commercials with the fast-talking dude (though he’s a total sport for doing that, bless him), but rather the video game series that got its start way back on the NES, courtesy of Codemasters. This racing series was simple but brilliant, making it all about competing with friends across a number of surfaces, like garage floors (stupid oil spills!) and pool tables.
The series hasn’t gotten much traction over the past few years, though its spirit remains with previously released games. And now we have Secret Mode’s inspired Make Way, which brings back a similar racing style to Micro Machines, but adds a couple of multiplayer twists to make things interesting. Not only do you still compete with friends, but you also build tracks on the fly – so you don’t know what traps lie ahead until you’re actually racing.
This game is surprisingly entertaining, with hours of gameplay, cool content to unlock and good fun to be had both online and locally with your buddies. If simple (yet joyous) racing is your thing, you’ll want to Make Way to add this to your shopping cart.
Build, Race, Conquer
Make Way is essentially made up of two key components. The first is building a track, using random parts that are scattered on a platform. You’ll need to pick your favorites quickly and then place them onto the track formation as soon as you can. From there, you’ll hop into the second part of the race – driving itself.
It’s here that you and your friends will take your pre-chosen vehicles and race on the track you just built, vying for a first place victory. But it’s not over yet. You have to accumulate a pre-set score – usually 3000 points – by racing on the same track until it’s done. However, you keep building on the track, making it longer and more elaborate. It’s a neat concept that keeps Make Way from losing traction.
Along with that, there’s a lot to unlock, including track parts, new traps and new cars. There’s also different terrain to race through, along with different modes to unlock. The general Classic mode is best, though if you want to compete with power-ups and blast foes off the track, you can do that as well.
The gameplay clicks beautifully across both modes, and the multiplayer works exceptionally well, particularly with local play. That said, it can be a bit too competitive, especially as you try to race ahead and can’t see where the track is going ahead of you. This could’ve been fixed with a wider camera angle, which would’ve told us where gaps in the track were. Grrr.
But I digress. A minor problem for an overall well-rounded game that embodies the spirit that Micro Machines had long ago. You’ll have fun with this one, especially if you’ve got friends with the same chaotic spirit as you.
Not a Bad Looking Indie Racer
With Make Way, elaborate graphics weren’t necessarily needed. It’s an arcade racer, not Forza Motorsport, after all. But Secret Mode and the developers at Ice Beam did a sweet job packing the game with charming visuals.
The way your track layout unfolds is smooth, even with the weird-looking loop-de-loops. The cars have a great deal of personality as well (especially the ones you unlock later on), and the different terrain is easy on the eyes. Again, there’s that slight camera issue with scrolling, but it won’t get in the way that much.
As for the music, it’s not amazing, but it does have a bit of charm to it as well, keeping the action going with smooth little beats. The sound effects are good as well, with building noises popping up with each new portion of track you add. There’s no character voices, but they aren’t really needed here.
Finally, the game rounds out at $15 in price. Not bad at all considering the party vibes it brings. And yes, that’s even if you crash your car. You still have hopes, even if you’re last. And you can always race with AI racers if you need practice (which never hurts).
Make Way In Your Game Collection
This nice little racer from Ice Beam and Secret Mode has driven its way into our hearts. Make Way takes a simple concept and runs with it, capturing all the essence we’ve come to expect from earlier Micro Machines games while carving out an innovative portion of its own. It’s entertaining alone, but definitely multiplies once you add friends to the mix. Plus it looks and sounds good.
Considering that Codemasters likely won’t return to Micro anytime soon, we’ll have Make Way to keep us content. Now to keep on building.
GAMERHUB RATING: FOUR (out of FIVE) JOYSTICKS
Thanks to Secret Mode for the review code!
