From “Auto Racing” on the Intellivision, though to “Super Sprint”, “Badlands”, and “Super Off-Road” in the arcade, to “Micro Machines” on the Amiga, and “Little Racers” on Xbox Live Indie Games, I’m a big fan of tiny top-down (and occasionally isometric) racing games. So I was excited to try out “Magic Racing Rally”, and it absolutely blew me away.
Presentation is great with good sound effects, music, and graphics. Unusual for the genre is a selection of 157 cars (!) and 18 tracks, numbers similar to what the most recent Forza offers on Xbox One for those interested in the comparison. There are a bunch of modes of play too, including a Battle mode where you must stay ahead of the AI opponents. There’s even a time attack mode where you race ghost cars of best previous laps.
It turns out that this is the sequel to “Magic Racing GP 2”, which I played and enjoyed back on Day 579, and they’ve taken a great game and made it even better. Best of all, they have different cars and tracks so owning one is no reason not to own the other. It even does something originally pioneered I believe in “Metropolis Street Racer” on the Dreamcast, where there’s an in-game radio station with a DJ introducing songs. This is an absolutely unmissable game for a dollar.
Here’s what the developer (Magic73) has to say about the game:
“Magic Studio presents: A new Top-Down racing game is here! Enjoy the rally with 18 unique racing circuits and different game modes: – Time Trial – Fastest Laps with online Leaderboard – Time Attack – Head to Head – Battle Mode – Quick Race Race locally against other friends/CPU drivers, or play Online. Get more info at: http://www.magicstudio.eu”
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