Table Top Racing Preview

Any schmo can whip a full-sized car around curves at 200-plus miles per hour. What really takes some skill is pulling off hot laps in a tiny vehicle while dodging menacing household objects, especially when the other drivers are armed with outrageous weapons. If you think that sounds like Micro Machines meets Mario Kart, that’s exactly what Table Top Racing has in store when it zooms onto iOS devices in the next few weeks.

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“Hippy Bathday” will no doubt go down in history as the best name for a vehicle ever.

Any schmo can whip a full-sized car around curves at 200-plus miles per hour. What really takes some skill is pulling off hot laps in a tiny vehicle while dodging menacing household objects, especially when the other drivers are armed with outrageous weapons. If you think that sounds like Micro Machines meets Mario Kart, that’s exactly what Table Top Racing has in store when it zooms onto iOS devices in the next few weeks.

Playrise Digital, a Liverpool studio headed up by former Wipeout lead designer Nick Burcombe, seems to have all of the bases covered with its new racer. Eight different courses ranging from a car mechanic’s table to a sushi bar will present different obstacles for both solo and multiplayer modes. While you’re avoiding familiar household objects, you’ll want to crash into crates, where EMP blasts, bombs and homing missiles are waiting for use on the competition.

Table Top Racing

There’s definitely a sense of whimsy in the three vehicles that Playrise has revealed so far, including a surfer van called ‘Hippy Bathday’ and a pink military jeep named ‘NamGang 4×4.’ Screenshots show off some sportier models too, and all vehicles will have customization options to suit your personal taste. Upgrades come in the form of tires, which can be purchased with in-game currency won on the track… er, table.

And while all of this no doubt sounds like a blast, it also looks great. Burcombe has gone on record saying that he intends for his new team to be on the forefront of bringing triple-A quality graphics to mobile gaming despite the challenges of less manpower and lower budgets. From what’s been shown so far, Table Top Racing delivers on that goal. Certainly, oil cans and alphabet blocks have never looked better than they will on your retina display at 60 FPS.

Table Top Racing

It appears all that’s left is some tweaking, so in the words of Colonel Sandurz, the release date should be “Soon!” You can find out exactly when then might become now by scoping out the Playrise Facebook page or hitting the “Follow” button at the top of this preview and letting us do the fact-finding.

Nick Tylwalk enjoys writing about video games, comic books, pro wrestling and other things where people are often punching each other, regaardless of what that says about him. He prefers MMOs, RPGs, strategy and sports games but can be talked into playing just about anything.