Light-hearted racers have always appealed to the majority of gamers: from their simple ideas to the fun nature of the genre, they have always had the edge in terms of fun over traditional simulation racers. Mobile hit Table Top Racing showed that this approach could be applied to handheld devices when it was originally released last year on iOS and Android. After being tweaked and refined, Table Top Racing has now been released on the PlayStation Vita and looks to provide non-stop fun to owners of Sony’s handheld console.
Developer Playrise Digital has a history of creating addictive and fun racers as some of the development team was part of the Sony studio which worked on and co-created Wipeout. With this wealth of experience on-board, Table Top Racing became a success on the iOS and Android stores as it was free-to-play and had charm and charisma in abundance. The game had been changed slightly to accommodate the Vita’s control scheme and even now the game isn’t very expensive, it seems as though it’s worth your money.
One of the most important aspects of any racing games is how the car controls. Some games have a very realistic feel about how a car corners or how well it drifts and throughout my entire time playing Table Top Racing I have not needed to use the brakes. The only buttons you really need are X (accelerator), R1 (activate power-up) and the left analogue stick (steering). This makes the experience very simple to learn and is familiar enough to people who played games when X was used to increase speed rather than the modern R2/ trigger approach. In terms of making use of the Vita’s controls, the only aspect which Table Top Racing uses is the touch screen, which would have been included in the mobile version too. Within five minutes of picking the game up you’ll have felt as if you’ve already played it for hours, in a good way.
When I first heard that Table Top Racing was coming to the Vita my first thought was that it could be a modern-day Micro Machines, which I have fond memories of from my Super Nintendo days. The race tracks seem to be a modern 3D version of the classic top-down racer and it looks impressive on the Vita. Some of the circuits see you racing through children’s play sets, barbeques, picnics and restaurants where you have to avoid themed items which can prove tricky, especially as you unlock faster vehicles. The circuits are quite similar in terms of their layout and it’s only the surroundings which make each circuit different. There aren’t random objects to avoid or split second decisions you need to make, everything feels very similar and the random objects would have been something to liven up the experience. In saying that, it’s not as if there isn’t excitement sprinkled throughout.
Power-ups are one of the best aspects of the game, as we’ve experienced in several Mario Kart games and Blur in recent years. While, again, there is a lack of variety, the random powers do liven up the race, even if they do end up feeling very similar in the end. There are certain races where you are restricted to only using one type of power-up, but these races constantly seem the same too.
As fun as Table Top Racing is, a lot of the gameplay is very similar, but the pick-ups do have their upsides. The bonuses you are able to collect include a speed boost, a bomb, a lock-on rocket and an EMP. The races do become exciting as you unlock faster vehicles and these powers do make a huge difference, such as leading around the final corner and end up finishing last because you’ve been hit with a tirade of rockets. It doesn’t feel unfair; it just feels as though you should have made better use of your pick-ups.
There are numerous cars you can unlock, but these come from both Championship Mode and coins which you earn at the end of each race. The Championship mode has 4 cups altogether and features various different races whether it’s time trials, catching up to your opponent, a normal race or a race with power-ups. The types of races seem different when reading the previews of the race, but feel very similar when you cross the starting line. In addition to the Championship Mode, there is a challenge mode which sees you having to complete set challenges which steadily become more difficult the more you do. These are also very similar to the other races, but there is also a drift mode which you are only allowed to use if you have a very expensive car, meaning that you will only be able to play it if you have played the game for a long period of time or sought out help from your good old debit card and delved into the world of micro-transactions, which this game features.
The micro-transactions aren’t thrown in your face at every attempt and you only notice a small icon when you’re upgrading your car. This is something which would have been carried over from the mobile version, but I don’t feel as though there’s any need to buy coins as the races pay out a decent amount of in-game coins should you be good enough. It’s a controversial subject just now, but it doesn’t greatly affect the outcome of the game.
Online multiplayer is also another gameplay mode which is available in Table Top Racing but, much like the case with many games before release, there wasn’t anyone online at the time and therefore I wasn’t able to race against other players. Slightly disappointing as I know how games of this ilk differ when played against other human players.
Table Top Racing is a solid racer on the PlayStation Vita and offers fun gameplay with progressively challenging game modes as you unlock cars and gain experience. As you soon grasp how the game works, however, you’ll find that the gameplay is quite repetitive and every race is almost the same. Still, Table Top Racing is a fun experience and is something which Vita owners should look to own if they are looking for a quick and light-hearted racing title.
Table Top Racing is out now for PlayStation Vita for £4.99.