Game Reviews

Scalextric

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Scalextric
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Licensed games are bound by their source material like prisoners to metal balls, unable to venture too far from the established settings or characteristics of the originals from which they spawn.

Scalextric is odd in that the recreation of everyone’s favourite '50s racing toy has been seemingly shackled by an invisible ball and chain, when it really should be allowed license to make modest changes that would support a much better game.

Get your (electric) motor running

Scalextric, for those born post-1990, used to be pretty much the only way to recreate the thrills and spills of a high-speed motor race at home, short of wearing cardboard boxes and making a "zoom" noise around the garden.

This iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad universal game runs off the same principles, in that you adjust the amount of electricity routed to your vehicle, which is set between two metal tracks along the racetrack.

Let loose the electricity and you send your car zipping along at high speeds, which increases the chance that it will suddenly leap off the track. As such, corners and chicanes require a certain finesse to navigate at pace.

With two cars on the track simultaneously - the game sadly doesn't support any more than two players - the thrill is in careening through turns and seeing who manages to stay on track.

Hands on the wheel

The controls are similar to another Scalextric-inspired game, HTR High Tech Racing, in that you slide your finger up and down a bar to adjust the power. Since it’s on rails, there’s no uncomfortable tilting of your iPad involved.

Unlike HTR, however, the cars in Scalextric feel new (in other words, the connections aren’t frayed to pieces), so there’s no random flipping off the track when tearing down the straights. Better still, there aren't any noticeable bugs - Scalextric feels solid.

Despite this polish, there’s an overwhelming feeling that developer Sabec has played it too safe, especially given the wealth of cars and themes at its disposal.

There are only four generic cars to choose from, for a start, none of which are obviously linked to any edition of the nostalgic toy (a missed opportunity if I ever saw one), and the measly six tracks on offer won’t satisfy for more than half an hour.

2nd gear

Even more problematic is the track design itself, which eschews elements like loops as in HTR or the fun bridges found in later Scalextric sets. There are chicanes, but these are solely relegated to the robust track creator and aren’t featured in the canned tracks.

There’s the option of splashing more cash and buying ten real-life F1 tracks like Abu Dhabi and Silverstone, but considering the lack of modes and sparse head-to-head multiplayer, there’s not much urge to do so other than to stifle yawns.

It's a crying shame, because Scalextric could easily have been a fantastic trip down memory lane. Instead, it crosses the line with half of its sponsorship stickers peeling off the sides of the air ducts, sadly reflecting on when it was the champion of the world.

Scalextric

Scalextric is a solid simulation of the famous toy, but doesn’t have enough content or spark
Score
Will Wilson
Will Wilson
Will's obsession with gaming started off with sketching Laser Squad levels on pads of paper, but recently grew into violently shouting "Tango Down!" at random strangers on the street. He now directs that positive energy into his writing (due in no small part to a binding court order).