Oh Milkstone Studios, how I love thee. You brought us “Avatar Panic”, “Avatar Ninja!” (Day 516), “Inflamous” (Day 337), “Wool” (Day 213), “Infinity Danger” (Day 166), and “MotorHEAT” (Day 76). But one of the best of them all was “Little Racers” (way back on Day 60), an online-gameplay-enabled homage to classic top-down racers like Super Sprint.
“Little Racers STREET” is the sequel to that game, but it takes the formerly top-down franchise into the isometric pseudo-3D era with impressive results. You now have car customisation (both paint jobs and tuning), weather effects (some of which affect car handling), a career mode that eases you into the game with slower cars (but lets you build up to faster rides over time as you earn them), and a huge city for your racing pleasure. Imagine a pseudo-3D game that’s halfway between “Project Gotham Racing” and “Forza” and you have the general idea.
Impressive animation, great controls, online play, and still the same old 80 Microsoft Point price point, “Little Racers STREET” is a triumph.
Here’s what the developer (Milkstone Studios S.L.) has to say about the game:
“Milkstone Studios presents the next installment in the indie racing series, now with online for 12 players! Drive the 30+ high speed cars on a 3D,weather-changing city! Career mode provides hours of fun, challenging races. You need to tune your car and earn money to get the most wanted cars.Pursuit the top ranks and become the best in the world! Underground racing has never been so fun!”
Writings of Mass Deduction 
Cheers to Little Racers STREET….I bought on day one of release after mere minutes of playing the demo. Well it seemed like only a few minutes elapsed but next thing I knew I was being asked if I wanted to buy or exit. With a sad face :( I exited and stuck to my self induced rule of not buying after playing the initial 8 minute trial. I immediately reloaded the game and *POOF* another 8 mins gone before I knew it. I was so tempted to buy right then but I thought I was letting my emotions get the best of me and didn’t want to purchase anything on an impulse. I exited the game once more and this time I went to my computer and tried to find reviews on the game. Since it just came out I could not find any. So I went and grabbed a sandwich and a soda and sat back in front of my TV and started up the game one more time. Now I admit I have fallen in love with Milkstone Studios games but I hadn’t really paid attention to that yet. One more go at it and if I was still left wanting more I would break out my piggy bank and dig through my sofa to find the money to buy this game. And so I did. And so I love this game. And so can’t believe this game is not in the top 50. Thanks for the great review. I like the way you describe it as a pseudo-3D game that’s halfway between “Project Gotham Racing” and “Forza”. Nice way to put it. Maybe throw in a dash of “Midnight Club LA” and mix it up nice and the cake would come up much like Litter Racers STREET.
OK…comment is longer than review…sorry didn’t mean to overdo it there.
Truth be told, I loved your story about purchasing the game. Keep it coming. :)
It is a clear winner, and probably the best indie game I’ve played overall, although I’m not 100% sure about the game mechanics.
The car in the E class to the far right of the list (the car right before you get to D class) seems overpowered compared to the other E cars. With that car, you can pretty much come in first place on any E race every time.
Also, I’m not sure its realistically possible to master the A class. I won my share of B races, but I don’t think I ever even placed in an A race. The oddest thing is that constantly coming in 4th in a 4 person race is enough to eventually be ranked 1st overall.
Last, the money system seems purely arbitrary. I can come is 1st place in a race with a $25,000 prize and a near perfect run only to find that my car needs $24,500 in repairs afterwards. I can then take the same car, intentionally ram everything in sight, come in last with a $1000 prize and only need $800 in repairs.
The city is not GTA sized, but the game does a fantastic job of creating multiple interesting tracks, all using the same city layout. From that standpoint, having the city be “familiar” actually helps when encountering new tracks (unless of course you expect to turn left when you need to turn right).
Of course I’m being really nit picky. As I said up top, I think this is the best indie game I’ve played. My only wish is that the game had been a little more mature in terms of a realistic money and upgrade system, a manageable A class, and a ranking system where you have to win to move up in rank.
Now that I am on about my 3rd run thru, chronologically, of this site, I think it is a good place to mention how fascinating it is that some developers consistently turn out solid games, of which Milkstone is an example. This game is, in my opinion, far better than almost every racing game on XBLA, but costs just 80 MSP. Insane is the best description for the volume of gaming – and quality presented – in Little Racers Street.
I’ve got to ask, andregurov, what would prompt you to go through the site three times?! Don’t get me wrong, I’m flattered, but also perplexed. :)
Well, I went through once tagging games of interest to download demos, and found myself finding games (off site) that I would return here to read possible reviews about. So, I went through a 2nd time to see what I missed the 1st time. As you are aware … you’ve got a LOT of games covered! More than anyone else on the web. Add that to my newfound appreciation for some game types like tower defense and RTS (neither of which interested me as recently as just a few months ago on my first pass through) and I’ve found this site to be an incredible reference … which I am always kinda working my way through. One of the most underappreciated aspects of XBLIG has to be the opportunity it gives gamers to experience new things at a bargain cost.
For better or worse, it is easy to go through your daily log and miss a bunch of stuff (due to the volume of reviews!). Some people may bash on XBLIG as all zombies and avatars, but it obviously isn’t, as your site clearly shows. Lately I’ve been playing a bunch of Pingvinas (and One Finger Death Punch). If you had told me a few months ago I’d play a board game about jumping penguins on ice floes on my Xbox … I’d have thought you were smoking crack and gone right back to my Call of Duty. I’m having a lot more fun now, though. : )