	Micro Machines V4
	Developer: Supersonic Software Publisher: Codemasters Release Date: Out Now Players: 1-8	Words By:
The Megadrive was my first and most loved console and has had a place in my home since the first day I booted up Sonic the Hedgehog. More recently it was used last year to great success in avoiding lessons and occupying free periods with multiplayer games of Street Fighter II, Final Fight and the Classic Micro Machines. Through only two controller ports it was possible to squeeze eight players, thanks to the two extra ports actually on the cartridge and by splitting each controller in two! Now why do I regale you with talk of free periods and cartridges with controller ports in them, you may ask; it is because even through its changes (micro maniacs…) I’ve loved the MM games and still love the original. So have they messed with the best formula since E=MC²? Thankfully the presentation, although lacking the cool that MMV3 had with the taxicab menus, still holds the charm of the originals. The courses are designed (and named) with the same ingenuity as before, with some of the courses giving a nod to classic courses from the previous games, with one particular one even having the same hectic sponge ferry as the “Ferry Fiasco” course of old! The detail on the cars isn’t too great and although there are a lot of different cars in the game most don’t look all that different. Handling is another thing though, as all the cars move around the tracks differently, be it with more speed, less grip or better handling (depending on the type of car). This makes things a little more tactical than just hurling yourself round the tracks, as the sports cars and dragsters really fly and have a turning circle larger than Bernard Manning pushing a fridge! The weapons are back and better than ever, as the giant hammer meets lead car-seeking rockets, machine guns and sonic booms! Most are pretty easy to use and help turn the tide of the game but the more technical powerups (rockets) are so tricky to line up that you end up either bumping into something while trying to aim or misfire and blow yourself up, making them more a hindrance than help! Overall the pickups do help to stave off any kind of boredom that would eventually come from simply going around and around mini circuits and changes the game dynamic a little. The single player section surprisingly has a fair bit of meat to it, with four divisions to race through; each divided up into tournaments of six different game types. These range from time trials and full races to the classic all-against all battles MM is popular for! The AI is pretty damn smart and knows some sneaky moves, particularly on corners and before jumps, and can give even MM veterans a run for their money. One of the problems with the game comes when you’re pack racing and you realise that the rules of physics regarding impact with computer cars doesn’t really favour the player. If there’s a corner or s-bend just after the start, regardless of your starting position you’re guaranteed to end up either struggling to recover at the back or pressing the restart button, hoping the odds might be better next time. Trust me, after ten consecutive restarts on a hot rod science track where you get shoved into the legs of a tripod every chuffing* time* it never goes the way you expect it to! After fighting for that single point at the start, things strangely get a lot easier and you’ll find that you can win with pretty much maximum points after that. The AI is mostly smart but it seems like on some courses they’re much smarter than others; at times they’ll team up and push you off a table and other times they’ll bounce each other around while you speed through the middle! Another problem that favours the AI and is more likely to make you sick than playing WipeOut on acid is the lovely camera. It seems to try and follow everyone but as soon as the field stretches out zooms in and out and follows anything it feels like, like an amateur home movie. Unlike you the computer cars seem unfazed by the camera jolting around and making driving on a straight road impossible, let alone negotiating corners and jumps, and always push past you to steal the lead. Luckily when you fire up the multiplayer mode all your anger and frustration seems to melt away, as the bulk of the problems lie in the AI (which don’t exist in MP) and the camera, which everyone is handicapped with, making the game seem much fairer! Single player aside this is what MM was made for and although things are a bit more complex with 3-D environments and weapon pickups the same element of fun isn’t lost in the translation. Like the old school games you can play with up to eight mates when using a multitap and sharing controllers, which is great after-pub fun! Micro Machines V4 takes the parts that made the old games fun and bolted some PS2 additions onto it. Most improve the game and the multiplayer is as fun as it ever was. The problems only come when you try to play on your own-the computer will frustrate you to the point of desperation. But no-one really buys a MM game for the single player, so go out and get this game for what it’s meant for: no-holds-barred old-school multiplayer fun!

Best Bits
- Great tracks
- Cool weapons
- Excellent multiplayer
- Extensive Single player
- Sneaky AI

Worst Bits
- Graphics not too hot
- Camera is frequently awful
- Inconsistent AI.


by: Crazypunk