Geekscape Games Reviews Joy Ride Turbo
We got our first glimpse of Joy Ride Xbox Live Arcade title a little over two years ago. At the time, it was a free-to-play title incorporating the use of our Avatars in an arcade-based racing world. Soon after, Microsoft revamped the title for Kinect use. Now, a year later, a controller-based port has arrived to the Xbox Live Arcade with an 800 Microsoft Point price tag. Is this joy ride worth the price?
Graphically, Joy Ride Turbo is a treat. Playing through each track was entertaining thanks to a few key components. Each race track comes with a variety of shortcuts leading to new portions of the track altogether. Gamers will also be treated to hidden collectables around the track, usually found in the shortcuts themselves. When racing on a map for the first time, it’s easy to overlook your competitors and instead focus on the track’s surroundings while performing back flips and barrel rolls with your vehicle.
Joy Ride Turbo comes with both single-player and multiplayer modes. While the modes aren’t plentiful, they are what is expected from an arcade racing title. Off the Main Menu, you’ll find:
Championship Series – Players choose from 100 HP to 300HP in an assortment of tracks that are mostly class-restricted.
Stunt Park – Players choose from 100 HP to 300 HP in an attempt to find every hidden car part and trophy, while collecting coins.
Aside from those, you also have the standard Quick Race option. On Xbox LIVE, you’ll find the options to race and visit stunt parks. My major gripe about this arcade title is the way matchmaking is set up. Unfortunately, when you enter a lobby, you are not able to invite any friends. Instead, you are forced to create a private match. This may prove to be a bit of a hassle, especially if you just want to invite one friend.
Joy Ride Turbo’s gameplay is solid. Players can drift, perform mid-air tricks, all of which goes towards your ability to boost. Just as in Mario Kart, players will also have the opportunity to gain weapons and power-ups to use on the race track. With friends, these modes can be quite fun. Joy Ride Turbo supports up to 4-player split-screen, and up to 8 racers on Xbox Live.
Car customization only goes as far as changing the color. However, seeing your avatar racing is pretty great. If you’re into kart racing titles, definitely check out Joy Ride Turbo.
