Developer: Playrise Digital
Publisher: Marvelous
Platforms: Switch
Tested on: Switch
Table Top Racing: World Tour – Nitro Edition – Review
The Table Top Racing franchise is not a new one as we’ve covered the Vita version a few years ago. A later installment, the World Tour version was later released for consoles, allowing a broader audience to enjoy the toy-car mayhem. With the recent fashion of porting games to the Switch, the Table Top Racing series is no exception it seems, as Switch users get the Nitro Edition for their entertainment. We were once again ready to wreck our opponents with our favorite toy-cars in order to go home with the gold.
Story
There is absolutely no story to be found in this newest iteration of the Table Top Racing franchise. You’ll simply wade through different championships and special events, with an added multiplayer mode. The game doesn’t require a story at all in order to be entertaining.
Graphics
Given the Switch’s capabilities, Table Top Racing: World Edition – Nitro Edition is no ugly game. You’ll be treated to cute and comic-like aesthetics, which certainly suit a game such as this. The environments, as well as the available cars, are vibrant and colorful and there’s more than enough diversity in order to remain entertaining. The effects of the weapons may seem a bit lackluster but they do the trick. The overall visual representation may be a bit on the simplistic side, but it works for a game that revolves around toys.
Sound
It’s no secret that the last generation of racing games often comes with a bland soundtrack that doesn’t really get you pumped. We saw some change in this trend when we played Onrush, which probably had the best soundtrack of a racing game in years. TTR does a superb job in nailing its sound design as well. While the tunes used aren’t famous ones, this bass-fueled soundtrack certainly gets you in the mood to crash and bash on all the different table top levels. We are quite impressed with the tracks in the game, even if they tend to be overly repeated. The basic sound effects are there and they do the job, albeit in a somewhat generic fashion.
Gameplay
Table Top Racing: World Tour – Nitro Edition is a racing game with a multitude of different modes, often containing power-ups to take out the opposition. You’ll be able to choose between championships, special events and multiplayer options. The championships are the meat of the game, offering you different events you’ll have to pass to play the finale of a certain cup. Special events are useful for earning some extra cash for unlockables and the multiplayer options speak for themselves.
The game is divided into three different classes, namely amateur, pro and expert. Each of said classes comes with an assortment of different rides. Each of these vehicles differ in stats, meaning some will be faster than others, but it might cost you valuable armor points or handling. There are enough rides to create a proper diversity, and when finishing a cup, you can use whatever ride you prefer (and have unlocked) to replay the events of said cup. The special events are often linked to one specific car, so it might take a while before you can finish them all.
Even though you can earn some extra cash quite easily, it will take a lot of time for you to unlock several cars and upgrade them to their max. It doesn’t help that the game blocks of the second half of the amateur cups, until you’ve played a few of the pro and expert ones. It would have been great if you could simply fly through the amateur tier in order to save up money for the pro tier and get used to things accordingly. Nonetheless, it’s fun to save some cash, but you’ll be replaying old levels quite a lot in order to get a sufficient amount of money for your upgrades and unlocks.
Handling in the game feels a bit stiff, even when you are using the drift wheels for your car. Each car has the same wheel-sets which can be equipped/unlocked and they will alter the way you play. Some will give you the ability to instantly drift, while others grant you power-ups outside those you can pick up during the matches.
Conclusion
Table Top Racing: World Tour – Nitro Edition is a fun Mario Kart-esque title to add to your collection of Switch games. If you’re into kart racers with power-ups but also a set of different options and rides to unlock, then the TTR port to the Switch will have ample content for you. The only negative side can be the stiff handling of the cars and the fact that you’ll have to replay a lot of events in order to get sufficient cash to unlock cars and upgrades. That being said, the game offers more than enough single player content and multiplayer fun.
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