Described by Playrise Digital CEO Nick Burcombe as “the love child of [Micro Machines] and [Mario Kart], with a pinch of one of my old PSOne title WipEout thrown in,” is Table Top Racing for the PlayStation Vita, which launches today in North America and tomorrow in Europe. Priced at £4.99/€6.99/$7.99 (with a download size of about 450MB), there will be a 20% launch discount for PlayStation Plus subscribers.
The launch trailer above gives you an idea of what to expect from the gameplay, while Burcombe outlined some tips to help you in the game:
First and foremost, make sure you upgrade your car as you progress — otherwise you won’t keep up with the competition. Things get even more interesting when you start experimenting with Weapon-Wheels. In conjunction with the power-ups, the wheel weapons will give you a real strategic advantage, so think carefully about your selection before each race.
There are 17 fully upgradeable cars, all of which come with some cool skins. You start off with a choice between the Whippy Kai-Yay! Ice Cream Van or the Hippy Bathday Campervan, but in no time at all you’ll be upgrading through to the likes of Rally Cars, suped-up pick-up trucks and hyper-cars like the Veloceratti and the Baguetti Carb Injection — we had a lot of fun with the car names.
The on-track intensity increases once you start unlocking some of those higher level Championships. Once you start exploring the Special Events and applying what you’ve learnt about the Weapon-Wheels, you’ll soon discover those three start challenges that seem impossible are achievable with a bit of lateral thinking.
Not featuring a demo or a platinum trophy, Burcombe did explain some of what you can expect in the Vita version:
The Vita version has both Ad-Hoc and Internet multiplayer – there’s no multi-player in Andorid at all. The Vita one also has double the polygon count for the scenery. Plus, with analogue control sticks you have manual control over the the brake and acceleration (its auto-accelerate on Android). You can also use the center portion of the rear touch panel to “glance back” and see where the competition are.
As well, “There is IAP [in-app purchases] for those of you who want to support us, but they are NOT required to finish the game.”
Will you be spending your money on Table Top Racing this week?
[Source: PS Blog (1), (2)]
