Hot Wheels

Hot Wheels is a racing video game developed by A. Eddy Goldfarb & Associates, and published by Epyx for the Commodore 64. The game was unveiled in June 1984, at Chicago's Summer Consumer Electronics Show, and was released later that year. Hot Wheels is the first video game to be based on the Hot Wheels toyline, and was marketed by Epyx as part of their Computer Activity Toys series, consisting of video games based on popular toylines. Gameplay Hot Wheels begins with the player choosing a vehicle. The player can choose from one of several Hot Wheels vehicles, or can choose to create a custom vehicle instead. Custom vehicles are created by the player in a factory, where the player chooses the design of the vehicle's front, middle, and rear sections. Once a vehicle has been selected, the player can drive around a side-scrolling city filled with various minigames and activities, including a demolition derby, where the player goes up against three computer-controlled opponents; an expressway, where the player can watch the chosen vehicle drive itself; Bob's Gas, where the player controls a mechanic and must refuel the vehicle and check its tires; a car wash, where the vehicle can be cleaned after becoming dirty from driving; a parking lot, where the player can park the vehicle; and Super Tuner, where the player can have the vehicle's engine checked. Another minigame allows the player to take control of a firetruck, with the objective being to extinguish a fire. Reception Robert J. Sodaro of The Guide to Computer Living praised the game for its diversity and its "fun" feature of painting vehicles, and wrote: "The detail accomplished in the graphics of this game are some of the best I've ever seen". Roy Wagner of Computer Gaming World wrote that Hot Wheels "isn't so hot", writing that it was "geared for the younger crowd of about seven". AllGame gave Hot Wheels three stars out of five.