Reviewing Every Hot Wheels Game on GBA

Join Kacey as she looks back at every Hot Wheels game released for the Game Boy Advance (+ the GBC game too.)
Follow & Support Kacey at these links:
/ kaceycalhoon
/ kaceycalhoon
/ discord
Hot Wheels was a big part of my childhood and I'm really excited to finally make this video. Production started as far back as September of 2021 but a lot of factors kept the video from coming out until now. I hope it's to your liking & that I could put fresh eyes on this particular subset of gaming history.
Extra footage sourced from around KZbin: • Hot Wheels GBA
This video IS NOT MADE FOR CHILDREN. Despite being about Hot Wheels, this video is intended for all ages and particularly those old enough to understand and discuss old video games. The newest game featured in this video came out in 2006 & the oldest is now 21 years old.

[@Kaceydotme]

My apologies for anyone who got two notifications for this video. A prominent music distribution company is copyright claiming songs they don't have the rights to-- and rather than screw around with a dispute process I might not even win, I decided to just change out the Jeopardy theme for MGS music & reupload. You'll know the bit. Also, that 5 second bumper at the start is an unavoidable reality of reviewing licensed games on this hellsite. It's *unlikely* that I would've gotten kid-gloved by Papa Google, but the risk isn't worth it. Hell, they still might. If you enjoy this video, please consider pledging on Patreon to ensure I still get paid for making it :) This was a really long project, been on and off the shelf for almost a year now, but I'm really glad to finally get it into your hands.

[@NotReallyHifumiTakimoto]

Legitimately, the weirdest thing about KZbin's "for kids/not for kids" policy is that they're leaving an algorithm to automatically decide what's "for kids", even when they're intentionally marked otherwise. Shouldn't it be the other way around?

[@Noobsaibot21]

Do you have a CRT? You should grab one (even if it's just for GBA via cube). If you're in Europe, it doesn't have to be an expensive PVM/BVM. A good consumer TV with Scart RGB is not a "terrible choice" by any stretch (in all honesty, it's not even that distant a second best for many of the "premium monitors" at 240p/288p/480i/576i. And can be had free in places.

[@sarthaksingh5480]

I also didn't play actual Gameboy advance but i did play gba games back in 2006 07 and 08 through emulator in pc. I remember played Burn ruber.

[@davidjaros1832]

The story of H35, World Race and Acceleracers is really interesting considering the fact it ended so abruptly and without much ado. I hope you finish the video about it one day and I'm looking forward to it

[@carlrygwelski586]

I really wish it would have had a proper conclusion. I still enjoy rewatching World Race and Acceleracers to this day

[@superiorone2061]

@@carlrygwelski586 I've always wondered why they never concluded it.🤔

[@carlrygwelski586]

@@superiorone2061 I believe there was supposed to be a proper conclusion but it was cancelled from lack of profit like many of the great things of history. Later on there was another "Hot Wheels" series with the main character being named "Vert Wheeler" but there is no connection to HW35.

[@RedSkylinex60]

It was a trope of Mainframe Entertainment to end on a cliffhanger. Many of their other shows ended on cliffhangers.

[@tyriedle2658]

Im getting a gameboy advance for christmas

[@callumdointhings5]

Excited to get home so I can watch a 30 minute review of gameboy advanced hot wheels video games. Who knew this is where I'd be at 29 years old

[@zillagramwiches]

im turning 30 in less than a month, we made it brother

[@BeyondTheScanlines]

Being an "older" (basically post-College) person when the GBA was alive, I didn't spend a lot of time on licensed stuff, but damn Stunt Track Challenge actually looks like a neat effort - gives me the kind of vibes I miss from some older racers (Stunt Car/Track Racer, Stunts/4D Sports Driving and Hard Drivin' and its successors). I can't help but love how the GBA offers some neat cuts underneath the licenses, or ports of titles from way more capable systems - it's certainly a system with plenty of surprises!

[@SuperLuigiKart64]

I know this wasn't the intention of the video (which is a great dive into an un-analyzed sphere) but I have to thank you for continuing to feed my unknowing idiot brain good arcade racers. Hot Wheels World Race GCN looks like a super good time! The iceberg bit is also one of my favorite bits of any video on this platform, hands down. Can only imagine how even more awful it was with bad music instead of the Encounter theme/Jeopardy theme.

[@MetEISH13]

You're the only person on this forsaken site that goes to such lengths to review these obscure racing games and every video is an absolute joy to watch over and over again. Thank you Kacey, another job well done!

[@crawfy48]

Velocity X had a nice collectibility aspect to it, it had a lot of cars and other stuff to unlock

[@VexAcer]

Oh man I got All Out in a bookfair as a kid. Suffice to say that even as a kid I knew it was terrible. I also had a double pack cart of Velocity X & World Race. Of course one game I did skip on was Stunt Track Challenge unfortunately lol. I definitely would've digged that one a lot more as a kid.

[@TheCamSays]

I remember having the World Race GBA game. It’s harmless and I could run through it but the password grind was a pain even as a kid.

[@nicestoriesnottherealstori3006]

Eh, I rember as a kid actually got a copy of that that also icluded the stunt track challenge as wellI remember not getting as far on that compared to Stunt Track Challenge.

[@FamilyTeamGaming]

Hey, at least this video finally answered me which Hot Wheels game it was that the boy from my 2nd grade classroom was playing.

[@petrhaas2356]

May I ask you which one it was? 😄

[@mario64remix]

6:42 The lack of vowels on the name entry is probably a reference to the lack of vowels on real life license plates.

[@Kaceydotme]

That’s not a thing where I am, I’ve had plates with multiple vowels in them

[@Luna-Starfrost]

Holy. I remember playing Velocity X on my Gamecube up and down, it was my very first Camecube game, together with Zelda: Twilight Princess. I love it so much as a little kid.

[@megacherv]

Kacey: "these games are best played on an original GBA with an IPS screen mod" Me: *looks at my Analog Pocket, a single tear rolling down my cheek* I'm sorry for what I have to do Kacey

[@Kaceydotme]

No hate !! Good choice

[@megacherv]

@@Kaceydotme haha only messin about 😁

[@dustykh]

I have stunt track challenge/world race as a combination game on gba, and played it a bunch when I was a kid. One of them got a lot more play time than the other, for obvious reasons.

[@r4microds]

I had stunt track challenge as a kid. Looking back at it as a 3D artist today, they went the right direction. Rather that texture mapped flat surfaces with a lower render res to maintain a playable framerate, going for cleaner flat shaded polygons with a higher render res was the way to go. You could cleanly see what was happening and the track design felt so fresh and exciting on the go compared to flatter NFS titles. I loved it to bits and it has aged much better than most racers on the console.

[@Ad-im1ne]

I once lent a kid a DS game in midschool... and in return he _gave_ me his copy of GBA Velocity X. I could see why he wanted to get rid of it. I was probably the one kid on Earth to ever beat it (it's very short and easy), and the final reward car is hilarious. Maxed out in every stat, it was basically a cheat code. The devs seriously cared about their own game that little.

[@rexthesheep]

Re: the speech about reviewing handheld games on real hardware. That's actually the exact same approach I took with my Dead Heat Fighters retrospective too! Playing on real unmodded GB, GBC and SGB+Super NES consoles and basing my review on that, but using emulation for much of the capture.

[@MuscleCarLover]

I'll be honest, when I first read the title, my brain just went "Oh god, what has she gotten herself into?". Glad to know there were only two games on the level I was expecting

[@61f757r34m]

i wouldve never thought id hear again about those games. I stil have my cartridge with both Stunt Track Challenge & World Race on it. I didnt really like any of them but i still have the memory of playing them.

[@beat-man5167]

the burnin rubber devs may have stripped the vowels but they won't stop me from putting CVM in the name entry

[@bumper3241]

Super excited, I remember having the Stunt Track Challenge and I think Beat That growing up, can't wait to see a proper review of these and the other ones!

[@pedrozanon7245]

Good video as always, very impressed with the STC GBA Port. I remember liking the console game at the time, it had some bullshit but the actual racing and tracks were super fun. Btw, i am SUPER looking forward for this HW35 video 👀.

[@David.Marquez]

This video is an absolutely iconic archive of games that should never be forgotten.

[@LotsOfToubleUsuallySerious]

You can change the controls of Velocity X to the standard asymetric controls. You just need to go to the options menu and change the handling from "beginner" to "advanced"

[@youtubeaccountlol4942]

Stunt Track Challenge is far and away the best GBA racing game I've ever seen. The way it handles 3D environments is extremely impressive

[@CC-qx7hk]

Omfg girl! You just unlocked a memory of Hotwheels Stunt Track Driver for me!! Wow I completely forgot about this

[@yprbprbppy3044]

I owned both velocity x and world race on both GameCube and Gameboy advance at one point

[@e2rqey]

Can't wait for the hot wheels world race video! I loved that world race mmo it was such a cool concept. Way ahead of its time too

[@superiorone2061]

Velocity X on the GBA is the EXACT same gameplay and design as a cheap Hot Wheels plug and play I had as a kid. I thought it looked familiar.

[@iceman78772]

the biggest crime of velocity x on GBA was having to link it to the GameCube version to unlock a bunch of cars on it

[@EvenlyDay]

As soon as I saw the diagonal camera view of the car. GT Advance immediately popped in to mind.

[@maccamachine]

great video these are pretty cool i used to have fun with hot wheels games as a kid the most recent one isn’t that bad either

[@TajmirTheRandomFan]

Hot Wheels Plays a chunk of my kid days, I even remember asking my mom and grandparents to get me some Hot wheels Cars from Walmart and such

[@allesinallem2675]

That is an extremely entertaining and well made video! I play my gba games on my ds lite and also think (at least for me) its the best way to play them.

[@MrCargod05]

I haven't watched the video yet, but it already made me remember the hot wheels game that was the the Cartoon Network website in the early 2000's where you could play all the Cartoon Orbitz games I think. it was pretty fun, atleast the trial version or whatever it was.

[@mourningwould7036]

Video was a fucking banger, I’d love to see more hotwheels content in the future!

[@ArcadeStriker]

I have no idea how I even stumbled upon the Hot Wheels All Out rom many, many years ago...but the only thing I always remembered from that game was the title screen music lol

[@RacerC45]

I love World Race. Big part of my childhood.

[@YouOnlyLukeOnce]

Hell yeah Highway 35 love. Will be excited to see the video on that and Acceleracers

[@Cykelpump33]

Accelerators OST + Unleashed would make a kickass game.

[@carlrygwelski586]

I paid almost $200 for my Hori Gamepad but paired with Everdrives and Gameboy Player it is one of the coolest pieces in my entire game collection

[@frosif7751]

I still have stunt track driver and my old gb pocket, I remember playing it so much as a kid just because I had dr mario and tetris as alternatives

[@someoneelse1534]

0:38 Hot Wheels: Bash Arena That just unlocked a core memory

[@Kaceydotme]

Fuckin LOOOOOVE that game

[@someoneelse1534]

@@Kaceydotme I can't believe I'd forgotten about it given how many hours I poured into it as a kid. Great game!! Love the video BTW!!

[@MatthewArrowood]

Another banger Kacey!

[@adamreyes9322]

Everything you said about the console version of stunt track challenge is completely valid, I’ll give you that, but it’s still my favorite hot wheels game with unleashed being the closest second. Growing up, that game was a part of my trifecta for the ps2 (also including battlefront 2 and guitar hero 3). The cheesy show theme always made 6yo me feel like I was a part of the HW universe and the overwhelming energy of that abomination of an announcer only added to that feeling. Although the sticker collection mini games are hellish punishments, most of the others were pretty good, and all of the races were creative and fun. (Especially the pirate and space ones) The music was also great in all aspects and each world’s theme fit it perfectly. It’s by no means perfect but it will always hold a special place in my heart.

[@DoctorrDude]

"This is a racing game, keep that in mind while I show you unedited uncut gameplay" I was trying to parse exactly what was going on and i just thought it was a dead end but when the frogger ass iceberg platform showed up I was fucking howling WHY WOULD YOU MAKE IT LIKE THIS?????????????????????

[@BillehBobJoe]

i still want my time back from playing hotwheels velocity x on the gameboy

[@damnedgarden]

When I saw the floating platform in All Out, I said, out loud: nooo....no, they didn't, oh god

[@Matt_STS]

I remember when I got Stunt Track Challenge on my GBA and I was blown away by the graphics, overall quality and amount of content. Still have it, and still one of my favorite GBA Games. Also I'm glad I bought HW Unleashed physical shorty after reviews went live (still as a pre-order), and its such a great game, I even got the platinum trophy for it.

[@screwtranslater]

Dude, keep doing what you're doing! I just LOOOVE this videogame deep cuts!

[@RacerC45]

I had actually own World Race GBA as a kid. I hadn't owned the console version. What I don’t get is why they reduced the number of drivers to 15, Lani not a playable character despite being a main character, and why they changed Kadeem's car?

[@sonangtuan3074]

14:49 OMG! I miss the Highway 35/Acceleracers era of Hot Wheels, hope I could see your retrospective on the subject very soon.

[@Free-4554]

11:06 as someone who never plays isometric racing games, my brain automatically assumes the directions are based off the camera and not the car(even if I do play other racing games)

[@lordmegatron65]

As someone who recently started collecting Hot Wheels, this is going to be interesting! 😊👍

[@Mandarin9900]

11:00 Those controls remind me of an old Java Gangstar game for cellphones, where the character and car movement was also tied to the screen I think.

[@bruhbbawallace]

i never had any trouble with the steering in velocity x as a kid, but then again that was my first top down racer so i guess that reinforces the horse game comparison

[@fhjunior6183]

Thanks for the vid

[@DesyDesotell]

Burnin' Rubber also looks a loooooooot like Konami Krazy Racers, especially the space level.

[@thicboibigsmoke7220]

I had the double cartridge that came with velocity X and World race and I remember loving world race for the visual design alone

[@YungJunko]

LETS FUCKING GOOOO

[@piccolo3291]

Hot Wheels All out: Tactical Espionage Racing game

[@DCSuperHerosPlayMC]

I used to play All Out and it was one of the first games i couldnt finish cause it was too hard! Especially that lava level

[@NewPhoneHudas]

is the tier list shown at 14:51 yours? if so, i may need to throw hands at your placement of Vulture.

[@samuelpierce2.088]

I tried out Stunt Track Challenge on the GBA a while back, and it’s a good time all-around. @Kacey if you’re looking for a similar game on the GBA, I highly recommend the LEGO Drome Racers game; it’s basically a beautiful marriage between the World Race GBA game, and the Stunt Track Challenge GBA game. :)

[@treemannick2969]

I’m not the only one who thinks that Stunt Track Challenge on GBA looks like Virtua Racing, right?

[@Kaceydotme]

it's the untextured polygons.

[@creeperstkoed6282]

I play so much of velocity its not even funny, but I never beat it because it was password based I got pretty far in though

[@normanclatcher]

I beat Velocity X no problem a number of times. Had nothing better to do in 3rd Grade, I guess. The controls felt slippery when I was out-of-practice but I never felt they were unfair either. Did a lot better with it on my SP.

[@creeperstkoed6282]

@normanclatcher I mean ya its not a hard game by any means, but I would always forget what password I had and never had anything to write it down with when I was playing as I would normally play in car rides

[@Pov.kucing838]

Hotwheels burnin rubber and hotwheels all out it's available game on Nintendo GBA only

[@_fudgepop01]

Shoutouts to and RIP planethotwheels, it will be missed

[@Bragglus]

KZbin stopped pushing your videos to my subscription feed, so I'm leaving a comment in hopes the algorithm takes a hint.

[@dtbjason]

Hey I just discovered a set of Hotwheels slot-car style joystick controllers that use an old pc gameport connector?

[@Kaceydotme]

That’s crazy cool, I think there was a game on Windows 95-98 called Hot Wheels Slot Car Racing that used those

[@TheOtherLogan]

Good stuff!

[@k4li373]

From BlackRock Studio my favorite game is Pure. Only ATV game that kept me playing to this day.

[@suntannedduck2388]

Good look. I think I maybe played a Hot Wheels game at one point but forget which one on console but otherwise I'll take a look at some of these as always curious about any racing games. I am not familiar with the GBA library and never had a GBA. Besides GT Advance 3/MotoGp as a dual pack with my OG DS that's all I got besides emu tight now and I got that dual pack as my first GBA/second OG DS (DSi replaced first back in the day) in 2020/2021. Might play the GT Advance like one though looks good even if less content and similar to it. Isometric racing games I never can get used to ever so pass. The Climax one seems good as of course they make tons of greats. Have yet to get into Split Second but still I'll take a look with low expectations in mind. I enjoyed the F Zero GBA game with the story (GP Legend I think it was not Maximum Velocity) on Wii U VC so I'll give it a go. The second last (3D one) is very impressive though. Ok the last one yeah I get what they wanted to do but that's bad for obstacles especially to that extent it is a bit much. Even as a platforming racing game it wouldn't really be that great day (skateboards, on foot running even type approach or more out there racing with jumps like a ramp besides the platform so there is two options to get across like in Modnation Racers which reminded me just now how similarly it looks and made it clear to me how much I don't like obstacles in kart racing games even though I'm not a kart racing fan but pick up some to fill in a gap for racing games on a system) if it were for the wipeout obstacle course tv show type games (I'd that were on GBA no clue but still) or something else maybe but not like that. Got to say the variety is good though but rough and all of the place can be awkward besides the handful of good. I do enjoy the old eras of arcade racing games though and the handful that do appear on consoles WHEN they do.

[@amberisvibin]

I'd recommend an ita display over an IPS one nowadays. it's a dsi screen that's been put into a gba shell. gives you 1:1 pixel size with no scaling, like the games were intended

[@RiasatSalminSami]

21:44 It has 🗿 10/10 game.

[@snoopdoggdankkush9285]

YEEEESSSS!!!!

[@nanmario2825]

I think a funny port to see would be bioshock for java phones. God i wheezed so hard my parents thought i was having a astmah attack.

[@JamesDOConnor1916]

Good woman kacey great work again thanks for the informative and interesting analysis 👍 😀

[@VeraTheTabbynx]

I know exactly where it came from ("good man") yet that may just be the weirdest phrase I've heard this month lmao

[@TheKusa5]

Oh god I had velocity X on the GBA when I was younger, I just... I still don't even know what the hell I was doing in it

[@AlexanderAgungWirabumi]

My favorite is hot wheels highway 35 world race and stunt track challenge

[@kfcnyancat]

So Stunt Track Driver GBC speedrunning is kinda almost like a regularity rally game?

[@StigDesign]

Turbo Racing on PS1 and WorldRace on PS2/PC only i loved, Mostly Turboracing :D

[@father042]

What is your favorite Need for Speed Game on the GBA? Mine is Carbon or Most Wanted

[@f4micom]

gaming

[@SECONDQUEST]

I like the channel icon, I hadn't noticed.

[@roguedogx]

12:26 the similarities are absolutely uncanny though. is it possible maybe a lead developer came from (or went to) a horse riding game?

[@roguedogx]

23:26 that is some GTA V torture board level design there.

[@219SilverChoc]

I think one of the first games I have ever played was Hot Wheel's racing game on the DS, atleast it was one of the first game's I had!

[@ShikayHawken]

00:14 A bit side tracked here, butcan we appreciate the fact Kacey use Gundam Breaker 3 footage instead of the other 2 newer Gundam Breaker footage? Anyway, I never touched Hot Wheels game on GBA, but some of them looks surprisingly fun.

[@Kaceydotme]

Gundam Breaker 3 is really good.

[@ShikayHawken]

@@Kaceydotme Yes, but the same can't be said with NGB... Which is the only one that accessible on PC. Oh well, I'm gonna save so I can get the console again.

[@Lianpe98]

now I wanna see a review of the newer hot wheels game :P

[@coisnotpog]

As a fan of the Hot Wheels games, but somebody who has never played on a GBA or DS, this is super interesting. The only mobile Hot Wheels game i have played so far was "Ultimate Racing" on the PSP, which is OK. Not bad, but not great.

[@dutmala]

Lets goo

[@LetsBarkAndRoll]

I’m pretty sure I stole a copy of World Race GBA at a school book fair as a kid

[@alias7goldenletters]

world race on the advanced is goated

[@computerguy5437]

i did have velocity X on the GBA; i forgot about it

[@daveraschke]

im confused what happened

[@lordkiza8838]

Ive plaged so much velociti x gba i was able to beat it with my eyes closed. And i dijf remember ig looking that bad wow life as a kid.

[@Awsomeisimo]

Playing a game on a non lit game boy screen is the original vision of the creators

[@TROY2048]

I always run gameboy emulator in a small window

[@cl2521]

Hell fuckin yeah

[@Zippy_Zolton]

>"even the bad games" >beat that gameplay NOOOOO