I was a massive Hot Wheels/Matchbox kid. For many of us, collecting those tiny diecast cars was a huge part of growing up. It was just as much about displaying them perfectly on a bedroom shelf as it was playing with them in the yard, launching them over the bath, and making dangerous, gravity-defying jumps out of any household item available. Having kids of my own now, finding these little cars wedged in the couch cushions brings all that nostalgia rushing back.
Yeah, this is me and my mate Tim, hanging out sitting on real cars, playing with diecast cars.
In recent years, that childhood love has evolved. Now, it is fueled by watching brilliantly created social media videos where people race miniature cars against each other on custom downhill runs, showing off the inevitable, spectacular crashes in glorious slow motion. Video games have also filled that diecast-shaped space in my heart. The recent Unleashed titles were loads of fun to play; they were decent arcade racers that allowed you to switch your brain off for a bit and simply enjoy the ride. Playing them felt remarkably similar to the golden days of Daytona in the arcade, crossed with the chaotic, accessible joy of Mario Kart.
With a brand-new Hot Wheels movie dropping soon, the franchise is firmly back in the global spotlight (and no I’m not talking about the Matchbox movie, there’s a Hot Wheels one in active development). Enter Hot Wheels Infinite Rush, a game that changes up the series formula in a massive way. Milestone and Mattel have teamed up once again, and they are aiming to capture that same nostalgic magic on a much larger scale.
Leaving the Living Room Behind
Hot Wheels Infinite Rush makes a bold decision to abandon the traditional, confined living-room and kitchen-table tracks of its predecessors. Instead, it scales everything up, taking the franchise into a sprawling open-world environment. Think of it as a massive, toy-sized playground spread across four distinct and freely explorable islands.
There is not a heavy, dramatic narrative to bog you down, which is exactly how an arcade racer should operate. The core objective is beautifully simple: each of the four islands is ruled by a “Rush Master.” These are the ultimate bosses of the open world. You need to complete various events, races, and challenges to unlock the chance to face them. Once you challenge a Rush Master, you must beat them in a high-stakes sprint to claim their exclusive car and their title. Once you conquer all four islands, you become the ultimate Rush Master. It is straightforward, action-packed, and provides exactly the right amount of motivation to keep your foot firmly planted on the accelerator.
What Works and What Needs a Tune-Up
When you dive into the gameplay, Infinite Rush offers a staggering collection of over 150 vehicles to unlock and race. What makes this roster genuinely interesting is how the developers have diversified the handling. Vehicles are divided into four unique archetypes: Versatiles, Titans, Drifters, and Speeders.
Your choice of vehicle actually matters, particularly in how you accumulate and use your speed boosts. Drifters earn their burst of speed by sliding smoothly around massive corners, while the heavier, tankier Titans can boost aggressively but run a high risk of overheating. This class system creates a brilliant push-and-pull dynamic in competitive races, ensuring that no single car feels like an automatic win. You have to build a diverse “Rush Squad” to tackle different types of events.
When it comes to what Hot Wheels Infinite Rush does exceptionally well, the attention to detail on the vehicles themselves is astounding. The developers have perfectly captured the toys-to-life aesthetic. If you look closely, you can see the tiny paint flecks, the sparkled finishes, the worn model numbers, and the intentional imperfections that make them look like real toys straight out of the blister pack. Flip a car up to see the base of it and you’ll see all the text you would see on a toy, the logo’s and copyright infomation rather than the bottom of a real car, making the balance between realism and toys a beautiful dance. The customization options are deep, featuring Sticker, wheel and Livery editors.
The Track Builder is a massive step up. It introduces a ground-snapping system that lets you snap classic orange plastic tracks right onto the open-world map. You can build around buildings or race above the city, weaving around towering skyscrapers. You can even take the chaos online with full cross-platform multiplayer, or keep it old-school with up to four players in local split-screen.
However, the transition to an open world does come with a few speed bumps. By moving away from the kitchen tables and backyards, the game loses a small hint of that pure, nostalgic Hot Wheels magic that I enjoyed in the Unleashed series.
The game is also hampered by a frustrating amount of loading screens. Even returning to the main map after a quick, event forces you into a loading sequence. You might also notice occasional texture pop-in when speeding through the denser city areas, which slightly breaks the otherwise gorgeous immersion.
Who Is This For?
If you loved the pure, switch-your-brain-off arcade racing of the Unleashed games, you will feel right at home here. It takes that core Daytona-meets-Mario Kart handling model and drops it into a massive, explorable map.
If you are a fan of open-world racing games like Burnout Paradise or the Forza Horizon series, but want something infinitely more family-friendly, colourful, and chaotic, this is exactly what you are looking for. It is effectively a kids-first Burnout Paradise, substituting realistic traffic for gravity-defying orange loops.
The Final Verdict
Hot Wheels Infinite Rush takes a massive leap of faith by trading its nostalgic indoor tracks for an expansive, toy-sized open world. While it suffers from frequent loading screens, the sheer volume of content, the stunning attention to car detail, and the highly satisfying arcade gameplay more than make up for its flaws. Whether you are reliving your childhood days of launching cars over the bath or discovering the franchise for the very first time with your own kids, this is an absolute blast.
Recommended.
