Chiki-Chiki Boxy Racers is a Modern Micro Machines

By:GeekyGamerGirl87

When I was a kid back in the day there was a toy that was just as popular as Hot Wheels, and that toy series was the Micro Machines. Micro Machines were so popular that it went on to release a few games. I bring the Micro Machines racing games up because when I played Chiki Chiki Boxy Racers, I was really reminded of that game. Developed by Pocket and published by Unties, Chiki Chiki Boxy Racers is a pixel art racing game that pays homage to what the Micro Machines games were. Graphically beautiful and with a bit of difficulty, the game leaves a good feeling in my heart. Before I go into my review of the game, I would like to thank both the developer Pocket and the publisher Unties for providing thedailygamepad.com with a free copy of the game, so that I could write this review.

The game starting off is very bright and vivid with its colors and the music really catches your attention. I really did enjoy the music for the game and it made me excited to play it even more. There are three different ways to play the game. The first is by playing it on the television set. The Next is with the Joy-Cons separate from the actual Switch console and the last is the with the Joy-Cons attached to the Switch System itself. As I did not get to experience the game with co-op I can only write about the single player aspects of the game. Therefore, when I played the game I preferred playing it with the Joy-Cons attached to the Switch System.

The gameplay on the Switch Screen is also very nice and you don’t lose the graphics when switching it to the big screen. The second way to play I am a little weary of playing it with the Joy-Cons disconnected from the system. Not because of the system itself, but the controls felt a bit odd to me playing with them disconnected. The game runs great on the TV set too. My only complaint it’s just the wired controller I used (for those who are wondering the controller I was using is PowerA Wired Controller Plus – Super Mario) was a little delayed in response time but playing with the Joy-Cons in the Joy-Con grip holder felt pretty good.

The game does offer four different game modes to choose from. The modes are Single Player Mode, Multiplayer mode , Local Mode, and Online Mode. Single Player Mode lets you do as it says it will and lets you play in single player mode the game’s two game play modes which are “Race” and “Battle. In Multiplayer Mode you play on one switch with up to eight Joy-Cons connected. Again, you can select from “Race” or “Battle”. In Local Mode it allows for you to enjoy the game with two Switch systems with each only have up to four players on each console.  One switch will create the room and the other will search for the room to connect the two Switches together. This game play also offers “Race” or “Battle.” The last mode feature for the game is the game’s Online Mode which allows you to go online to play or play online with friends. In this mode you can also select from “Race” and “Battle.”

The one thing that breaks my heart with this game. Is that it is a pretty fun game but at the time of my review for the game; the online (at least for world wide web was completely dead.) So sadly, I was not able to test the game out online. As this was the case, I was only able to play the game in its single player mode. The “Race” mode I found to be very fun in single player mode, but the “Battle” mode was a bit of a bore because you aren’t allowed to add AI cars to it.

In “Race” mode there are three different stages that you can choose from. You can choose from the City, the Jungle, and the Beach. Each race gives you a total of three laps and each stage contains four different races and one Grand Prix race which plays the other four races one after the other. This gives you a total of fifteen races to play from. However, to open the next race, you must finish in the top three positions which I like that feature. It makes the player work for something instead of just giving them the next race.

There are five cars starting off which are Family, American, Sports, Roadster, and Rally. You can choose what color you would like the car to be by using L and R buttons. There are also fifteen more vehicles that can be unlocked. To do this, you must come in in the top position for every race you partake in. You can’t come in second or third. It legitimately must be the number one position to unlock the other vehicles. You can also choose between handle and stick transmissions. “Stick” is similar to your auto transmission and “handle” is more like a manual transmission and makes the cars in my opinion difficult to drive.

In the next mode of the game you have is “Battle” mode. Battle mode offers four party games for one to play. It is also offered in single player mode, but without the option of being able to add AI cars to the game, I really didn’t get much enjoyment out of it. It would however make a good practice stage for battle mode in a sense if you want to know what each of the games are. If they went back an added the feature to add AI cars to it; I think I would enjoy the Battle mode a lot more. As stated before “Battle” mode has four different games that you can choose from. The first game is “Coins.” The next game is “Smash.” The third game is “Paint”. The last game featured in this mode is “Goal”.

In the “Coins” party game you get a minute and thirty seconds to collect as many coins as you can. I can only assume the one with the most coins wins. Again, I couldn’t get online to test my theory as online didn’t have too many people playing it. In the next party game which is called “Smash”, you again get a minute and thirty seconds to smash boxes off into the unknown. The third party game “Paint” has you racing to cover the most ground with your paint in a minute and thirty-nine seconds. The last party game “Goal” is pretty much a short version of “Rocket League” where you score as many goals as possible in a minute and thirty-nine seconds.

I will admit that I enjoyed the games, it’s just I wish that the game would let you add AI to the games in single player mode. That way you could enjoy the battle mini games. However, if you have enough people to play with, I believe you could have a lot of fun with the battle games.

Overall, I thought that Chiki Chiki Boxy Racers was a pretty fun game. Especially if you are someone who wants a quirky and fun racing party game. It is a shame that the online for this is a nonexistent, but I still think it’s a fun enough game to have in your arsenal for when friends come over. Especially if you remember the Micro Machines racing car games. If you would like to try Chiki Chiki Boxy Racers for yourself. You can do so by purchasing it digitally through the Nintendo e-shop for $9.99 USD.