Joy Ride Turbo XBLA Review

Joy Ride Turbo is a spin off
of the earlier Kinect Game

I'm back with another car game to review, this one much different to the last. Joy Ride Turbo is an XBLA spin off of the previous retail Kinect game; Kinect Joy Ride. Kinect Joy Ride worked for the most part but some people have accused it of having unresponsive Kinect controls which become a hindrance to the gameplay. Whether the release of Turbo acts as an acknowledgement of that fact or just giving players the option of experiencing the game with a controller is a decision for you. I have not played the original Kinect Joy Ride, other than experimenting with the demo for a couple of minutes, so I can't make any comments to it's playability or any other real comparisons between games, but I shouldn't have to. This is a review of Joy Ride Turbo and it should be judged by it's own merits.

Overview

Joy Ride Turbo is pretty much a kart racer, having you speed around different tracks, grabbing pick-ups and using them to try and ensure your victory. It doesn't offer anything noteworthy in the race mode, you'll earn money depending on how you place in each event and that money can be used to buy more cars and paint jobs. The AI are pretty average and there were only a handful of races, out of the over 100 I must have done to complete the game, where I didn't end up in first place.

The Stunt Park areas are littered with massive jumps and obstacles for you to fly over

GripShift is similar to the Stunt Park
sections in Joy Ride Turbo

There is also a Stunt Park game variant where you're left to your own devices in a big open area with jumps and pickups spread all over. This is actually the mode I ended up having the most fun in, as the game turns from brainless kart racer to somewhat of a puzzle/platformer, with you being tasked with trying to figure out how and from where are you able to reach the various trophies and car parts hidden throughout the level. This part brought back fond memories of playing GripShift, which I had a blast with years ago and if you enjoyed the stunt parts of this game I recommend you give GripShift a go.

Rational
Most of my time spent with Joy Ride Turbo was spent in the different races working my way through unlocking all events and then building up enough money to buy all the cars. This was pretty mindless for the most part, after racing on a tack a couple of times and finding your route you can blow away the AI for the most part. Only in a couple of the last race courses are the AI any problem at all, but they can be managed quite handily with the power-ups you pick up. The AI will also use power-ups on you but even still I managed to start overlapping some of the other racers in a couple of courses.

Starting dead last and finding yourself in first after one lap happens more than it should

Finding shortcuts and car parts throughout the race is fun the first few laps, but on return visits to the courses you end up barreling through them. You end up knowing which corners to drift around for a big nitro boost and find yourself in first place by the second lap. It makes the races less exciting for the most part, but also more relaxing. You don't have to be worried about winning all race only to have the AI rubber-band and hit you with a power-up five seconds from the finish line to cost you your well deserved win.

Car Parts grant you access to flashier vehicles

Once you've blasted through the Races you're left with the two Stunt Parks to play around in, which I felt was a lot of fun. After driving around and grabbing most of the easy trophies you start eyeing off the harder ones, looking at them from different angles and wondering what jump will bring you to them. There are also car parts littered throughout the stunt parks that when collected can open up other cars for you to buy, however I beat all the races and was able to get all the trophies with the cars available to me, never having to worry about getting a better car.

Summary
Joy Ride Turbo is a fun way to spend a while, you'll see all the game has to show in around 6 hours. It's not difficult or frustrating and is quite relaxing and pleasant to play. If you're looking to grab all the achievements in the game you'll spend another 4 hours or so grinding out wins in the race mode to give you enough money to unlock every car. This will make your last couple of hours a bit boring, but at least you're never pipped at the end and robbed of your winnings. Give Joy Ride Turbo a go if you want a bit of lighthearted racing fun.