Micro Machines: World Series (Xbox One)

Product Information

Codemasters could have built on what it achieved with Toybox, but instead it's scaled that back and risked it all on a brand new concept. As a nice little treat for nostalgic gamers, the avatars for the AI racers are lifted straight from the original games and include memorable characters like Spider, Cherry and even Violet Berlin. Maybe I'm just an old fuddy duddy now but I honestly struggled to see the outline of the track in all of the tracks we played.

All that's really changed is the positioning of a deadly electric whisk and the removal of one of the trickier short cuts. There was a high emphasis on vehicular combat, and that came at a cost of the fun and simplicity that made the series so great. It was utter carnage when you had eight people cramped around a CRT monitor and four controllers, but this was quintessential Micro Machines for those old enough to remember it. In addition to classic game modes such as Race and Elimination, Micro Machines World Series introduces all new Battle Arenas which allow you to wreak mass destruction on a miniature scale against your friends or the AI.

Micro Machines World Series received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic, partially due to its lack of career mode and spotty online multiplayer. Familiar weapons from Toybox, the Tommy Gun, the Hammer and the Mines are rebranded as Nerf products, while countless Nerf guns litter the tracks and arenas. They slip and slide all over the track, no matter what vehicle you've chosen and as a newcomer it's very easy to over or under steer. History lesson complete, but it is important to know just how well received the series was in the ‘90s. There's an argument to be made that magic of Micro Machines lies in its multiplayer, sure, but the lack of an offline Championship mode to noodle about in leaves it all feeling rather empty.

As well as bringing to you the classic game modes like Race and Elimination, Micro Machines World Series will introduce a new style of game play to the series: Battle Mode.With so many new attacks to learn and so many ways to die, things get hectic fast and you'll find yourself waiting to respawn on a regular basis. Fast forward to 2017 and I now have two teenagers in the house, who weren't even born when I was playing this back in the 90's! Sign in to your Xbox One (make sure you’re signed in with the Microsoft account you want to redeem the code with).