My 5-year-old son loves Hot Wheels and he’s amassed quite a collection so far. Several tracks and playsets, loads of cars, painting kits, colouring books and more. When Hot Wheels Let’s Race: Ultimate Speed from BamTang Games and GameMill Entertainment came up for review, I had to put a request in, if only to see the smile on my son’s face.

“Get ready to race, drift, and build in Hot Wheels Let’s Race: Ultimate Speed! Race through wild tracks, face epic bosses, and unlock iconic cars from the hit Netflix series. Build a track in Track Builder mode. Play solo or in local 4-player split-screen!”

Based on the animated show, Hot Wheels Let’s Race, this videogame version brings together most of the show’s characters and vehicles in a story-based racer with some pretty great track designs. As this is aimed at kids, the game isn’t quite as complex as other arcade racers, or even some of the other Hot Wheels titles. However, that does not mean it is any less fun. Hot Wheels Let’s Race: Ultimate Speed offers up quite a decent number of gameplay modes. There are single races, various cups with multiple races, a selection of challenges and the main meat of the game, a story mode.

All of the modes can be played either single-player or up to four-player split-screen. So me and my son got to have some fun racing action together. There a selection of six different characters to play as, each with their own stats. There’s loads of cars, each with their own stats. Then you can pick a decal to go on the car and each of them gives a specific buff. So there’s quite a lot of variety before you even race. About those races, the tracks are brilliantly over-the-top. The more you race, the more you unlock. New cars, new decals and new track pieces. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that part, before you set up a race, you get to pick a unique track piece that will be put into the track. So individual races can vary depending on your chosen set-ups.

The Hot Wheels charm is here in spades and the tracks themselves offer a ton of fun. Massive jumps, loops, double loops, corkscrews, upside-down figure of eights, and much more. As well as the races, there are boss fights. Hot Wheels Let’s Race: Ultimate Speed even comes with an easy to use track builder, so you can create your own unique races. The track builder automatically makes the circuit and you add track pieces from a wide variety. The track then auto-adjusts to maintain the circuit. It’s very easy to use, as it is aimed at younger players, but you can create some pretty impressive races with some practise.

Hot Wheels Let’s Race: Ultimate Speed is available now for PC and all the consoles, and it comes with a £35 price tag. You get a lot of game here for your money, plenty of game modes, loads of cars, fantastically over-the-top tracks, local multiplayer, and a track builder. If you have a younger gamer in your family and they enjoy a racing game, then Hot Wheels Let’s Race: Ultimate Speed is a must buy. It is a tad too simplistic for older gamers, but I have to admit to having a lot of fun playing this with my 5-year-old son and seeing the smile on his face.