Matchbox™ Driving Adventures

TL;DR: A fun game for kids. Recommended for sure. Summary: Back when I was a kid, everyone got Hot Wheels toys. But there is also the underrated ones, called MatchBox. The only model I remember was a firetruck car and a similar Honda Civic model I guess. Don't know. Don't remember. Sh!t, 2004 was something else. Anyway, this racing game might not be on anyone cup of tea, likely because the driving is simplified and bouncy at times. But It was fun, actually! Car Customization only limited to colors, which not a lot, but decent amount of variant. Some of them are alright, others are sh!tshow for driving. The game has Two Modes. Story Adventure and Competitive. The latter, featured couch multiplayer, which you can plug 4 controllers for you and your friend to play in the Competitive mode. The former however, are where the MatchBox cars are put to use, with you often engaging missions like stopping a Thief by ramming their car 8-10 times, Towing broke cars, becoming fireman and ambulance driver and research, which you are placed in this collectible missions from sea-shell or materials. Collecting them all earn you a gold medal. You can forget about the 100% stats, since it required you do everything right, from gold medal and beating time records, sometimes below 2 minutes. While tedious effort, it's optional. CONS: To addressed the cons first, the driving are stiff, bouncy and Handbrakes are non-existent when you press X/Square Button. It's actually a Drift Button. You also, can't remap the game, which is sucks, so you'll have to deal with the controller you are provided. Also, the game rewards are unbalance. Like, I already completed an entire Mission on Gold, but somehow, I earned less points after. Even if you try to redo the same event at 100%, you can't earn a f@#k!ng points to buy new cars for f@#k sake! The only way to earn points after the game completion is to engage in a Drive Routes. Even if you did beat the time records below 1 minutes, you only learn about 3000 Points, which is less. It needs an update. A new mission, new tracks, new vehicle, Steam workshop mod. Gameplay & Car Balance and Allow earning points when replaying the same missions. Also if you are annoyed by the game announcer, you can simply just disable it in the Option menu. PROS: While tedious of a racing game, I actually quiet enjoy it. It's a kids game, but also fun for adults. Especially, when you play with friends and family with the Competition mode. VERDICT: I don't know if the game will ever be updated, but if it does, it would be more fun. The game is actually fun, albeit not perfect. There is a lot of polish the dev needs to make and it only has 30 missions and 5 hours of completion. So, I only recommend this game when it's on sale. Also, the game is DRM-FREE. No need Steam to play it. Just use the MatchBox.exe and you're set. However, doing this, won't let you use the Steam Overlay to track times & earn achievements. 7.5/10

*Not worth the $60 AUD - I got this from a Humble Bundle with numerous other kids games for about $25AUD iirc. I'd say a $20 game AT MOST on its own if your kid enjoys racing games* Game wise (ignoring price), it's kinda what you'd expect for a kids game. Simple, and easy to complete. My 5yo kid has enjoyed playing it, and swapping so I can unlockthe items for them at times.

5/10