Tiny Trax

 PlayStation 4
Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 13 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 13
  3. Negative: 0 out of 13
  1. 4P.de
    Jul 28, 2017
    72
    Minimalistic, but stylish slotcar racer that puts you in the middle of a beautiful scenery.
  2. PlayStation Country
    Aug 4, 2017
    70
    Tiny Trax is a racing game that uses VR in a brilliant and clever way. There's not much content here though and the single player campaign can be just too unforgiving which is at odds with the game's cheerful atmosphere.
  3. TheSixthAxis
    Jul 25, 2017
    70
    Once you get the hang of Tiny Trax, it’s a fantastic little racer that demands you learn the tracks, perfect every corner, and know exactly when to boost in order to win. Some people might stall while getting over the initial hump of learning the handling, others when contemplating the amount of content in the game, but get past that and you’ll find a slot-racer for the VR generation.
  5. Video Chums
    Aug 2, 2017
    63
    Tiny Trax is conceptually an excellent VR game but its lack of replay value, unintuitive track layouts, and frustrating level of difficulty are quite disappointing. On the other hand, if you're a fan of slot car racing then this is one game that you shouldn't overlook.
  6. Edge Magazine
    Aug 17, 2017
    60
    If only it played as well as it looks. [Issue#310, p.121]
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User Reviews

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User Score
4.9

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 8 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 8
  3. Negative: 4 out of 8
  1. futureyesterday
    Jul 28, 2017
    9
    You might not think box car racing would work in VR, but looking around the tracks while the cars zoom past your face is way more immersiveYou might not think box car racing would work in VR, but looking around the tracks while the cars zoom past your face is way more immersive than you could imagine! The graphics in this are also pin sharp, bright and beautiful. 12 increasingly complex tracks provide a MASSIVE challenge (its way harder than it looks) and the initially simple controls soon turn out to have depth and strategy. Highly recommend for a challenge on the single player cups and races, but online multiplayer is currently more forgiving with the difficulty!… Full Review »
  2. Salsaketchup
    Jul 26, 2017
    8
    Tiny Trax taps into a bit of nostalgia of me and that may sound like an odd statement for a Playstation VR game, but bear with me here as youTiny Trax taps into a bit of nostalgia of me and that may sound like an odd statement for a Playstation VR game, but bear with me here as you see Tiny Trax is basicly the box art of every over the top stunt slot car race set that I saw as a kid and FuturLab has tapped into and poke a bit of fun with that idea nicely with what you see in the trailers and marketing for their latest title. Unlike the Scalextric's sets that I unboxed as a kid to find that at the end of the day they were just bits of plastic sitting in my bedroom, Tiny Trax transports you into the that world that previously could only exist as boxwork art.

    Tiny Trax gives you the whole environments in which these tracks belong, not just the tracks themselves, so if you were a kid with a good imagination and an unlimited budget then Tiny Trax is in the ballpark of what you would get with all its little details set across three themed environments tropical, fire and Ice and space. With a wide range of complexity across the 12 tracks on offer, including jumps, loops and even under water sections where you can duck your head under the ocean and all the game sound and music changes as though you have really submerged your head into water to watch your tiny car; race across the sandy ocean floor track. All of this is rendered beautifully in a distinctive illustrative style, with meticulous attention to detail, with tracks getting their own little sub-themes on the wider environments and little references from films/stories that are scattered about like amusing treasures to find.

    But let's move on from my googly eyed nostalgia trip and talk about how the game works; its a departure from classic slot car racing as your cars don’t go careening off the track on the corners; instead there is a drift mechanic at play as you take a corner you have to manage your drift with your left thumbstick keeping a drift indicator in the green, getting this right will get you around the corner quickly while charging your boost, but mess the drift up and the indicator bar will go red slowing you down. Then we have the boost and lane switching to manage; managing your boost effectively can take a bit of working out for the different tracks and very much becomes a case of knowing when to use it or when to regain it in the corners. The ability to change sides of the track means that if you want to get round the track the quickest then you really want to be on those inside Lanes.

    So what can seem like quite shallow game play at first becomes quite an intricate rhythm game that if you want to get ahead means you're going to have to find a groove on each of the tracks as the AI cars in the single player modes don’t hold back much, so you have a skill curve to get over if you want to win.

    There are both solo player and a multiplayer modes available, with the multiplayer allowing for 2-4 players in public or private lobbies. In both modes you can either play one track at a time or you can play in the Cup modes that will pit you against all 4 tracks of a chosen environment or there is the all Star Cup made from a selection of tracks from each of the different environments.

    Let's talk about price and the longevity of the game it's just £13 and while you can easily play on all of the tracks within an hour, you're unlikely to come in first much in that time as it really does take some time to get into it properly. There is a childlike joy that doing well in Tiny Trax, but it doesn’t mean that it is going to be everyone cup of tea as moments where you mess up and lose at the last second could frustrate. There is the amount of repetition in the game as its a slot car racer so that is kind of unavoidable; I'm surprised to not have seen a reverse mode for the tracks as well.

    With everything now kind of covered who was this game for? Well if you ever liked Scalextric or slot car racing and you want to play on amazing tracks just are impossible in the real world then this is an absolute must buy for you!

    If you want a game that's just a little bit of fun that you can casually dip in and out of then this could be what you're looking.

    If you're new to VR and you're just wanting to get your VR legs or you want me to show VR off to people that have never been in VR before this is quite a nice little intro game just to get a taste for it, but at the same time being quite addictive and charming little game.

    So what's my conclusion? Well it did make me give a few of those wow faces that have been seen in its adverts and it really is very charming and has kept me entertained for a good few hours already just trying to get better and I'm still not done yet, so at this price it's good value for money and time I'm happy to have spent.    … Full Review »
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