Micro Machines: World Series

Micro Machines World Series is Codemasters' attempt to drag a beloved top-down arcade racer into the modern era, and on pure vibes it starts well. You're racing miniature vehicles - monster trucks, dump trucks, hovercrafts, tanks, spy cars - across kitchen counters, pool tables, garden sheds, and a genuinely delightful Hungry Hungry Hippos game board. Interactive hazards like teleporters, catapults, and giant fans shake up the routes, and the Hasbro brand tie-ins (NERF weapons, G.I. Joe set dressing, Ouija-themed arenas) are handled with more charm than you'd expect from a licensed deal. There are three main modes: Race, Elimination (drive far enough ahead that rivals scroll off screen - the classic Micro Machines formula), and the new Battle mode. Battle is where World Series swings for something different. Two teams of up to six players fight across 15 arenas using objective types like King of the Hill, Capture the Flag, and free-for-all elimination, with each vehicle carrying a unique loadout - the ambulance heals teammates, other vehicles pack flamethrowers, NERF missile launchers, and charged ultimate abilities. It's chaotic and, for short bursts with a full local lobby, legitimately fun. Local play supports up to four players, and all game modes are accessible offline, which is the single most important thing I can tell you given context I'll get to in a second. Here is that context. The online servers were shut down in March 2024. The game was already criticised at launch for thin player populations, bot-padded lobbies, and a matchmaking system that struggled to fill rooms with real people. That problem is now permanent. What you have left is a local multiplayer game with 10 race tracks, 15 battle arenas, and bot-filled online sessions that no longer exist. There is no career mode, no single-player championship, no structured progression beyond levelling up to unlock cosmetic loot boxes (skins, voice lines, gravestamps). The handling has always divided people too - the physics lean slidey and oversteery, especially on the hovercraft, which takes genuine time to tame. New players will spend their first sessions flying off table edges. For a couch session with three friends who can hold a controller, there is still something here. The chaos of Battle mode translates well locally, the tracks are visually inventive, and Elimination mode recreates that old screen-scrolling tension that made the series famous in the first place. It is, in the words of the game's own history, best when someone is physically sitting next to you ready to yell. But with only 10 race tracks, no career structure, dead online servers, and handling that punishes newcomers hard, the fun window is short. This is a two-hour Saturday night game, not a weekend one.

Riley · Scout Team

Sports & racing

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