Mashed: Fully Loaded

When the original version of Mashed failed to make a major dent in the UK ELSPA charts last year, it seemed as if the whole world had gone crazy. Addictive, high-quality multiplayer racing action was the order of the day, but the lack of any Xbox Live modes hampered the game somewhat. Supersonic are back to try again with Mashed: Fully Loaded (or Mashed 1.5 depending on your level of cynicism), but unless you’ve missed out once, there may be no real reason to upgrade.

A handful of new tracks, a new “smooth” camera system and a bunch of new training modes are the main additions here, but only real hardcore Mashed addicts will notice any major difference. Being one of them, I first noticed that the camera system seems to fail miserably compared to the original version, with many points being lost simply because you can’t see the track in front of you as your point-of-view has been hampered by a bunch of scenery, or more commonly, the edge of the screen. When you only need one more point, the game has reached the “end game mode” and the camera robs you of three vital points in a row, there’s much frustration to be had.

For those who haven’t played or seen Mashed, the title can be a touch misleading. Remember Micro Machines on the Megadrive, where getting a screen’s length away from your opponent gained you a point, and a specified amount of point won you the race’ Put that game into 3D, give it pretty textures, sweet lighting, and give the characters an increasingly repetitive and annoying set of vocal snippets, and you have Mashed. That isn’t to say that the game is a direct copy, more that the main game modes have been influenced more than a little by that 16-bit classic. Given that developers Supersonic were behind that game too, they can be forgiven.

The main issue with Mashed: Fully Loaded, is value for money. If you already own Mashed, what you get for your £19.99 is a few new tracks and a new camera system that hinders more than it helps and a handful of training challenges (supposedly more than an hour’s playing time worth) that you probably won’t touch. If you don’t own Mashed, however, you get the chance to experience a game that really should be tried by all people who have a friend or two to compete against. The fact that Xbox Live support has been overlooked once again is a real shame, as this would make for the perfect online game, especially if leagues and tournaments could be created.

This review is short, as it really should be seen as an addendum to our original review of Mashed (read). Maybe a proper sequel to Mashed will correct these oversights. I look forward to the day that we see that game arrive. A low score for the original owners that the game is targeted at, but add a point if you don’t have Mashed in your collection.