Kids today are oppressed.

They didn't get to experience the joy of Micro Machines. This sucks because Micro Machines were the best thing. Now they got stupid crap like anime and bad video games and hippies telling people that LEGO is sexist despite the fact that nobody really cares what you buy your stupid kid. Give Johnny a Barbie Doll and give Lacie a Tonka Truck.

Ok, but Micro Machines were the best. Even their licensed crap was the best. So it was '90s, back when video games needed effort to make. Someone thought "You know, Micro Machines are cool as hell. Let's go and put them in a video game. And have them race in bedrooms, on tables, at school, in the bath, and out in the garden. And, you know what? It was awesome. Then they did it again and again. Then they made V4 and that was about as disappointing as your average Kickstarter.

But, now MicroMachines are gone and kids have to grow up playing with Non-Threatening Civil Peace Corps Joe and Empowered Gender Studies Professor Barbie. Someone at Codemasters must've been like "We want another Micro Machines because that game was cool, but there aren't any more Micro Machines. But, because someone there isn't an idiot, they said "Ok who cares about the branding. Just call it Toybox Turbos and make the tracks and such be desks and tables and such, and make the cars toys.

And it worked. Toybox Turbos is essentially Micro Machines V5. It's not as good as the original or V3, but it's still great and easily worth $15.

The controls are tight and responsive, the visuals are colorful and inviting, and it's a lot of fun to play. It's a bit more challenging than the previous games, too.

But, why do I say it's inferior? Basically, the track variety is all limited to being indoors. And, all wheeled vehicles. Racing helicopters in the garden or powerboats in the pond doesn't happen. Not only that, it's nice to be able to select vehicles instead of being forced into the track flavor like in the original, but it's all limited with in classes. In fact, there's an entire class dedicated to Taxi Cabs. That's kinda lame. Not only that, but the elimination boss characters do love to cheat and stay utterly uneffected by both the stats of their vehicles and track obstacles. This is a pretty lame way of padding out the game time. It serves to only give the player an agonizingly long and unenjoyable boss bout that leaves you longing for just standard racing. In all, the game could've used more classic racing instead of the tacked-on game types.

Sure, it's not as cool as the first, but that was a long time ago. This game is still great. If you're as cool as Spider was, then you'll probably check this out.

Hardest part about this will be convincing your friends to buy it and play it with you.
This is a classic racing game; it's a lot of stupid fun. :D

A very nice game. It's very fun to play. The only thing that must be added to this game is a setting where you can add more laps because the tracks are too short. a great game though, Thumbs Up!

This little gem from the team at Codemasters is a great throwback to the Micro Machines series from the past.

This game is very welcoming to new players as there is no steep learning curve like there is with most other games. In otherwords, it is a great pickup and play. The game does become a bit more challenging towards the end I should add.

Racing across table tops, desks and kitchen sinks couldn't be more fun and whacking the enemy vehicle with a mallet couldn't be more satisfying.

I highly recommend picking up this game as it is a blast to play. I really enjoyed it myself.

Best use of oculus rift in a game seen so far, absolutely love it.

Well done Codemasters

This game reminds me alot of Micro Machines

The only problem I have with it is that there is no mode for a normal race in multiplayer its just elimination.

A delite to the senses!

Micro Machines is back! Thanks to this game my mates and I got flashbacks to our old micro machines matches on the mega drive! Only this time it's in glorious HD graphics!

a true micro machines remake! with multiplayer!

A long time ago there was a game called Micromachines. It use to be one of my favorite games. Toybox Turbos is bringing back the nostalgia of Micromachines. The cars are easy to control, the graphics are quirky and fun, and the multiplayer function adds even more awesomeness to the game. Anyone who has ever played Micromachines would love this game. I loved it the first second I played it. There is nothing more fun then going 50 mph in a toy car, slamming into a cereal box, spinning out on control on spilled milk then falling to your death in a sink full of water!

overly addictive, amazing pacing and the end-game AI are vicius as they should be! love it! more than worth the price!

Very fun little game! The Oculus Rift DK2 support is great and makes the game much, much better! Also supports Direct-to-Rift by default which means no need to fiddle around with anything, just launch and put on your headset.

Now this really is a blast from the past! If you loved the Micro Machines games, then there's absolutely no doubt you will LOVE this game! This game is very addicting, because you will most certainly be on edge, with every corner on every tabletop! This is a MUST have! 9.5/10!

Micro Machines is BACK and with a New Dress code,
Race your Opponents,
Overtake your Opponents,
Eliminate your Opponents,
Beat your Opponents.

Join Codemasters in the Ultimate Remake of Micro Machine in Toybox Turbos.

Put your Pedal to the Plastic race fans.

Micromanchines live again! (under a different name)

I just finished my first play of this with my DK2 and I am blown away, what a fantastic little game with excellent DK2 support.

A must buy for DK2 owners who love whimsical racing games.

I don't really write reviews but this game is amazing. Before you look at my time and say i havent played it enough, i play it offline a lot.
Pros:
-Cars take just about the right amount of time to unlock
-Nice track and well thought out designs
-The physics are on point
-And loads more

Cons:
-Camera angle can get annoying
-Quite expensive but it is very replayable
thats about it...
Anyway just buy it :)

Toybox Turbos is the latest micro racer from the house of Dizzy or Codemasters as they are more commonly known. It is Micro Machines in all but name, but still manages to capture the look and feel of those classics.

Racing takes place on courses in various rooms of the house just as an imaginative young mind might create. Most of the courses are fun and feature lots of big jumps and tight corners and are set in some imaginative locations such as a dinosaur park, a kids party and dad's snooker table. Most of them have hazards such as train tracks to jump over, oil slicks to slip on and even a volcano spitting out lava onto the track. There are also a great selection of vehicles which include the usual sports cars and hatchbacks as well as diggers, earth movers, police cars and tanks.

As you race around you can collect power ups which you can then use to blast the living daylights out of any other racers who happen to stand between you and an ill deserved first place. Remember that they can give as good as they get and will shoot back. Races are quite short at only 3 laps and over within a flash.

In the single player game each championship is based around a certain type of vehicle such as emergency or construction vehicles. These include the normal finish first races, time trials and overtake challenges. Each one ends with a one on one boss race where you have to outrun or blast your opponent to win. Do this a set number of times and you win their car and unlock the next championship. The game also features a good multi player mode with all of these types of races and more.

Unfortunately the game is quite short – you will finish the single player game in a couple of hours and even the multi player doesn't really give you that much more to do. It has a sort of "seen it done it" feel to it which becomes a little monotonous after a while. Having said that the game is fun while it lasts.

It does have a fairly low price tag and Micro Machines fans will probably get more out of it, but the short play time hurts it a lot – if you really want it get it on sale...

Absolutely fantastic party game. If you enjoyed playing micromachines 'way back then' you will instantly feel right at home with Toybox Turbos. The main singleplayer mode is pretty fun and gets you accustomed with the gameplay pretty quickly but it does feel like they could have done a bit more with it.

The main fun of this game comes from the elimination multiplayer which can be played against the AI, up to 4 friends on the same screen or online. What's better is that you can party up with two or three friends on one screen and play online with other opponents.

Matchmaking works pretty well. Haven't really had any connection issues connecting to other players and the game is mostly lag free. The few times the lag was noticeable, it was relatively miniscule and never really affected the races.

Overall a surprisingly well put together game that captures the feel and the nostalgia of the old Micromachine games.

Ask yourself a very simple question: Do you love the old Micro Machines games?

If the answer is yes, then chances are you'll love this too.

It's pretty much everything you loved about the old games: fast, close and fun races; innovative tracks based on breakfast tables, playrooms, school rooms and pool tables.

You can even set the view to the classic 'top down', which makes it a lot easier to spot short cuts but isn't really how the game is meant to be played.

The single player campaign is rather short. I finished it in less than four hours, which is something to be aware of.

I also found online to be a little bit buggy and laggy, though this could have been my connection rather than a server side issue. I'd have to play more to find out.

I haven't played local multi-player yet but it should be a hoot!

If you're not sure, try the demo. For me it turned this game from a 'wait until it's on sale' to a 'I need this right now!'

It may be a short and quite simple game, but it's very, very sweet.

I can't wait to get this game on with three other peeps, it'll be an absolute blast!

88 MPH

Charge your flux capacitors because we're going back in time.

It's 1994, Blur's Park Life is echoing in through an open window, a portable TV chatters away to itself in the corner advertising a new show called FREINDS.

A movie stub for Pulp Fiction sits on a desk and a fresh faced future games reviewer is hunched over a keyboard playing a game called Micro Machines on his shiny new Pentium PC.


Everybody Be Cool!

Micro Machines was cool.

There's no denying the attraction of racing a toy car around a kitchen table, the track made from kitchen utensils, spilt sugar and the like, so much fun!

You could tear around a corner, skid on some milk and fly off the edge of the table!
There was nothing else like it.

It was a ground-breaking game which helped establish the top down racing genre. A genre which hasn't seen too much love in more recent times.

That is until now!


Back to the Future

Back in the present, it's easy to look at Micro Machines with rose tinted glasses.
It was a different time back then, games were simpler, mechanics less sophisticated and consumers less demanding.

How would a game like Micro Machines stand up in todays market?

Similar titles have been few and far between over the last decade, maybe that's for a reason, or maybe we've all forgotten how much fun this type of game is and it's time to rediscover the genre...


Spiritual Successor

It seems like you can't read a review these days without coming across the phrase "Spiritual Successor".

Civ Beyond Earth was the "Spiritual Successor" to Alpha Centauri, Next Car Game is the "Spiritual Successor" to the Flat Out series, Evil Within is the "Spiritual Successor" to Resident Evil 4, the list goes on and on.

Not being one to buck the trend, I'm going to jump on the reviewers phrase of the moment and call Toybox Turbos the "Spiritual Successor" to Micro Machines.

It's with this in mind that I approach Toybox Turbos with some trepidation.

I loved Micro Machines, so could this be the reinvention I'm hoping for or a hollow copy that will diminish my fond memories of the franchise.

Let's fire it up and find out!


Everything including the Kitchen Sink!

The first track you'll come across will have your toy car of choice racing around a breakfast table, tearing around dirty plates, avoiding the odd stray baked bean and negotiating the various utensils as you try make it across the water-filled kitchen sink.

You'll find various little gift boxes floating around the course which, if you manage to pick up, will temporarily modify your vehicle by giving you a speed boost or bolting some sort of weapon to your roof enabling you to try and take out the cars in front (or drop mines to take out the cars behind!)

You'll also find gold coins littering the track which you'll want to try to collect.


Toys R Us

After each race, the coins you've managed to collect will be added to your total kitty which you can then use purchase new vehicles.

There are 35 for you to choose from, each fitting into one of seven different categories from construction vehicles to race cars.

As you browse through the selection you will be treated to a view of each toy packaged in its own toy box which will open once you purchase it.

It's nice touches like this that really help Toybox Turbos shine.

There are slight differences in the handling of each vehicle too, a tractor isn't going corner the same as a race car, even if it is a toy.


Track and Field

Toybox Turbos fields 18 tracks, all of them bright, colourful and well designed.

You'll be racing around school desks, kitchen tables, science labs etc. each with their own short cuts to learn and each with their own special touches to make you smile.

You'll jump over ramps made from cake, be fired into the air by toasters and dodge run-away trains. You can tell that a lot of time and effort has gone into creating these tracks and it really shows.

Sure I've got my favourites but all of them are fun to race around, just don't spend too much time admiring the scenery or you'll miss your turn or find yourself trapped behind a stubborn baked bean.


This ruler isn't big enough for the both of us

It's not just about classic races either, there are end of level bosses, time trials, overtake challenges and escape runs to name but a few.

If this isn't enough to keep the game fresh for you, then you can take your driving skills online and invite 3 friends to join the fun.

There's nothing more satisfying than ramming a competitors taxi cab off the edge of a school ruler bridge before accelerating away over a text book and there's not many games you can say that about!


Eye Spy something beginning with Oculus

Another plus is the fact that Codemasters have announced that Oculus rift support is planned for this title.
I'm not sure how this is going to work with this genre but it doesn't stop me being excited about it!


Toybox (Micro) Troubles

With regards to criticisms, I'm really going to have to nitpick here.

You'll unlock all of the content pretty quickly, but after you finish the single player challenges you'll want to take this online anyway so I don't really see that as an issue.

There's a first to the edge of the screen race mode which can be awkward when your winning because you can't see what's coming next.

That's really about it, neither of these things are real issues and I only mention them for the sake of balance.


Toybox Micro Turbo Machines

Back at the begging of this review I was nervous that Toybox Turbos might take something away from my fond memories of Micro Machines and I'm happy to say that this wasn't the case at all.

This is a title that knows what it wants to be and doesn't fail to deliver.
It's an honest, charming and nostalgic experience which captures the feel of the original micro machines titles perfectly.

Whether you were around for the original micro machines or not, I still think you'll find a lot to enjoy here.

If you're looking for a fast, frantic and above all fun filled little arcade racer then you've found it!

Find the full review and others LINKED HERE