Forgotten Games - Hot Wired

Episode 16 - The worst forgotten racing games marathon continues as Vectrex takes a look at Hot Wired, but he finds that it is much more than meets the eye!
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Featuring music from (in order of appearance)
Mega Man 3 - NES
Steely Dan - Were You Blind That Day
Steely Dan - Third World Man
Nathalie - Heartbeat (Initial D)
Super Mario All Stars - SNES
Hot Wired - PC
Wrecking Crew - NES
Metal Gear Solid - PS1
LEGO Racers - PC (Orchestral Mix)
Mario Kart Wii - Wii
Donkey Kong Country - SNES
Steely Dan - Fire in the Hole (Slowed to 5%)
Needle on Vinyl (Slowed to 5%)

[@Vectrex4Life]

Thanks for watching guys, hope you all enjoy the video! I had to dig deep to find those clones. Thornton's was found on eBay by a complete accident. I had no idea what it was but I bought it out of pure curiosity. I was in complete and utter shock when I first tried it.

[@stopnow8752]

I forgot all about this channel found it and im happy as all hell

[@Vectrex4Life]

Probably not, there's just not enough to say about NASCAR games in general.

[@ethansprague2005]

Vectrex4Life I love these videos. They are worth the wait

[@ccflegoandhistoryfreak4920]

Vectrex4Life plz do forgotten games on Lego alpha team

[@ubersuper6329]

Vectrex4Life y r u so god damned creepy

[@phantomstrider]

"My god we ran into an invisible hurricane!" 😆

[@drejon5874]

He should have renamed the video to the man who rode the invisible hurricane.

[@johncohagen2793]

Hey Strider! Wasn’t expecting to see you here!

[@eurikadude]

These videos are weirdly comfy in a way, vectrex is like an old fashioned youtuber thats still going, and i wouldn't have it any other way! I cant stop rewatching this series every few months. Not to mention that these really inspired me and many other people too, im sure!

[@mientone]

In Europe (or at least in Poland), the game was named "Midnight Racer" and it was being added for free to all Nestle cereals xD

[@TheEiji]

And people think that CoD is the same for every release...

[@ethanmarley5396]

Eiji at least THEY give us NEW STORYS, NEW CAMPAIGNS AND NEW GUNS AND NEW MAPS!

[@stevemarley6062]

@@ethanmarley5396 AND NEW KILLSTREAKS!!!!!

[@comdrive3865]

it is though. COD is king of consistency

[@pyroflare7774]

@@ethanmarley5396 CoD SUCKS, black ops 2 completely fried my ps3

[@EmeraldCoasttt]

You can still see the break lights from the semi in midnight race club, holy shit

[@Unitron2112]

Damn, I actually own Police Chase and used to always wonder why the file said US Racer but never thought much of it. Well now I know, how scummy. Great video man!

[@Vectrex4Life]

Haha wow. It totally fooled me when I bought it. Thanks!

[@whatamidoing0005]

I used to have a copy of Midnight Racing or something but it went missing

[@TauGeneration]

just keep cloning , just keep cloning , *just keep cloning* , *JUST KEEP CLONING*

[@Vectrex4Life]

#JustKeepCloning

[@boneneedle3360]

Clone fish

[@bitelaserkhalif]

Attack of the clones!

[@SinginShooter]

You better watch out. You Beter Watch Out. YOU BETTER WATCH OUT. *YOU BETTER WATCH OUT.*

[@Arexion5293]

That moment you break physics so hard your average speed is significantly higher than your top speed.

[@christianmorgan593]

A new Vectrex video always brightens up my day. Keep up the awesome work.

[@Vectrex4Life]

Thank you, glad you enjoy the videos!

[@adorenu1338]

Am I the only one who loves the damage physics here? Its so absurd that it is so great..

[@PhantomDZ01]

I just remembered I got this game from a cereal when I was 7, I only remember the gameplay and now I finally remembered it thanks to you! I only played 30 mins of the game because my monitor was defective and then I lost the game,but 7 year-old me enjoyed that 30 min as I was easily impressed by any racing games that has car deformation. (Probably because I haven't play Burnout series yet)

[@videorelxant00]

this show has improved a lot since the first video. It's great to see a youtuber get better with time. almost every content creator gets better with time and you are a prime example of that. keep up the good work!

[@Vectrex4Life]

Thanks so much! It's great to see viewers enjoying them. that's what makes it all worth while.

[@LinkoVideo]

I honestly can't believe there's *6* games that are just the same, and other developers have done this as well. Pretty awful stuff... Let's hope this doesn't happen again! Anyway, the editing was great and I really enjoyed the video. Keep up the good work!

[@Vectrex4Life]

Thank you very much! And yeah, it is quite shocking.

[@midorithefestivegardevoir6727]

EA is ahead of you.

[@ethanmarley678]

Speed Thief is rather the UK version of this game, due to having british cities and cars And Midnight Racing came out a year before this

[@marv3337]

2023 and I just came across this! Brings back fond memories of me and my brother playing hot wired on my moms PC while she was asleep, we had so much fun despite all the stooopid glitches 😆🤣

[@Bacurahh]

even gran turismo has better damage models than this

[@FireAntoniyo]

Finally I got to watch this! It's been in my watch later for months XD Awesome video man! Don't know what was scarier. The amount of clones or the games themselves! Can't wait for the next vid!

[@Vectrex4Life]

Thanks dude! I can't wait to finish the next one.

[@mlogeebobee7176]

Any time you post these Vectrex, it's like a call to god. In short, they always come out great.

[@Vectrex4Life]

Haha thank you very much!

[@LGLFanTeam12]

Well, the car damage physics are the early stages of the "soft body physics". Today you can get BeamNG (which is by far the most realistic softbody physics i've ever seen between every racing games). You should check a game called "Viper Racing". It has similar damage physics compared to this game (only got bettered), and the game was released in 1998.

[@Vectrex4Life]

I agree. I do have Viper Racing and I think it's great. Thanks for watching!

[@WayOutGaming]

okay, so i remember years ago i saw police chase at an odd lots store for $4 and almost bought it, but bought the great escape video game instead. obviously the best decision i ever made.

[@silenceenigma587]

Nothing like a new Vectrex video after finishing my homework

[@thearcadeproductions1140]

One of your best videos yet. I'm surprised at how much these have changed since the last time I saw your videos.

[@Vectrex4Life]

Thank you so much dude!

[@poltergoose_]

Just keep cloning. Just keep cloning. Just keep cloning.

[@Vectrex4Life]

#JustKeepCloning let's make all developers see this haha.

[@sohomghosh2214]

just keep cloning . Just keep cloning. me think : He is scary 😱

[@Speedstar235]

I remember having this game in my childhood and I thought it was fine. Clearly my world was a lot smaller and I was not aware of actually decent games. Still, I had some good times with this game, SFX and commentary. But those cops are quite the nuisance and I really fear them when they come the other way. Speaking of this game, anyone remember an ancient PC Autobahn racing game that's pretty much this without the Hot Wired theme (that only had 2 playable cars, a Porsche and I think a C4 Corvette)? Pretty sure its made by the same people since the cameras and gameplay are super identical. The graphics and effects in this game are super polished ones from the Autobahn game. EDIT: Oh wait, got to the Racer Pack part.

[@Vectrex4Life]

Yeah...that Autobahn game isn't very good either. But Hot Wired just has more to it that makes it worse.

[@JakeMR2]

I mostly remember Big Rigs being sold on some websites back in 2008 or before that even (it was key store). I am very glad I had tried Street Racing Legal Redline.

[@vivekantoni2134]

Your intro is so classic. Brings back those 2010s KZbin videos!

[@MakoTheUndead]

I unironically did buy Midnight Road Warriors in Poundland after somehow enjoying Midnight Racing and Speed Thief as a kid back in the day. Your videos are good, nice job.

[@longarmsshow]

justkeepcloningjustkeepcloningjustkeepcloningjustkeepcloning I think this might be my favorite video of yours now. You always find a way to up your game with each video, and it's absolutely mind boggling as to how talented you are. Keep up the fantastic work, bro! =)

[@Vectrex4Life]

Thank you very much, Marc! You have no idea how much that means to me. =) #JustKeepCloning

[@000Orkarnikolla000]

You don't dissapoint, Vectrex. This video was really spiritual. Great work!

[@Vectrex4Life]

Thank you very much! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@StivOfficial]

O shit, i have the same game ("Midnight Racer"), but i got it from a box of cereals. Nice.

[@SPG69]

Alternative title: how games from the 90s predicted NFTs

[@conceptualfoxsky]

Hey man, love your stuff and loved the video! These "games" certainly feel like something you would have found in some bargin bin of wal*mart or deep in the bowels of Amazon. I actually have a few suggestions themed around "Racing games from the bowels of amazon" thing you have going like "Corvette", "Boss Rally", "L.A. STREET RACING" and finally "Jeff Gordon XS Racing".

[@chadstrats]

blowing the lid right off this long ass con.... doing gods work, I never heard this one before....

[@glitchboi3537]

I got that midnight racing one used to play when i was a kid lol

[@user-fm6im2nq1k]

You literally have the perfect voice for KZbin. I luv u

[@Polewaj_Inc]

I cannot fucking believe that AAA studios are starting to take notes from THIS game of all things.

[@Yawnjoo5]

i rmb getting this game along with 3 2 1 smurf in some compilation cd or smth thanks for bringing up this game, actually wanted to rmb what this game was like

[@Marulauriu710]

Your channel is awesome bro keep it up 👍

[@Skauldrich]

I'll give them something though, the music of Hot Wired/Speed Thief and Midnight Street Racing were both pretty cool.

[@kungfuninja55]

YOU CAN STILL SEE THE TRUCK TAIL LIGHTS IN MIDNIGHT RACE CLUB SUPERCHARGED. HOW WERE THEY T H A T LAZY

[@Pjazerlazer]

Awesome vid. Bought Hot Wired out the 5 dollar bargain bin at a Roses as a kid.

[@TheNifitss]

They made 3 same games. "Midnight Racing", "Hot Wired" and "Night Race". Where night race is nowhere to be found

[@Razorblade1812]

By watching that review, this game triggered severe flashbacks that I had of a game that I used to play the demo of as a kid, but had forgotten the name of it since then. That is until I found a video featuring games running on an engine which this game is running on, called 3DGE, a name that I looked up on when I saw videos of Wolfenstein 3D running on a source port called 3DGE. And the one game that this game triggered severe flashbacks of to me was called Thrust, Twist + Turn, released only in Europe by Take 2 and developed by a company that surprisingly isn't IncaGold that I thought it would be, but by a different company instead. A long-defunct Finnish developer called Carts Entertainment, Ltd, whose portfolio only consisted of this one game that I just mentioned.

[@DVark]

There is also a 7th version of the game by the name of "Night Race" :) Great video!

[@adt_10terrarian5]

"Dont make new games. Just keep cloning" EA: "Write that down, write that down!"

[@dougy124]

Lmao! This is too funny! I had this game growing up.. i would get pissed very quickly. Good video, btw. Subscribed! ^.^

[@LGLFanTeam12]

Anyways, you just made a great gaming history content. This can be a reference for us all :D

[@Enders1]

i got speed thief and big rigs as a gift once and speed thief never worked Edit: I just downloaded speed thief and it still doesnt work.

[@gulas_s_houskovym_knedlikem]

It reminds me of Big Rigs for some reason

[@SuperDesmond12]

Oh man this just gave me Big Rigs off the road racing vibes with all of the glitches. Lol

[@bitelaserkhalif]

6:30 every gran turismo hybrids ever

[@NerdomancerKirou]

daaaaaammm.... this game.... i used to play it when i was like 3 ,so much memories in one video.

[@johncohagen2793]

🎶Just keep cloning! Just keep cloning! Just keep cloning, cloning, cloning, what do we do? We clone, clone. 🎶

[@darkquixote6077]

Love your channel, and Hot wired Mr Peepers Edition was hilarious funny.

[@claytonwhitacre1335]

Great video man. I see you like Steely Dan.. 5:35 Seems like you have good taste in music!

[@Vectrex4Life]

Thank you! Yes, Steely Dan is my favorite band! You can see that I used some of their songs in the description. (And in past videos too)

[@HEALPony]

I remember playing this as a kid and probably only played this once or twice, but i remember an easter egg i think. I remember driving the opposite way you are supposed to go and it said something like “i put the car back where it belongs” or something, idk. I probably still have the game in storage somewhere, but yeah. I wonder if someone has a video on that easter egg.

[@MrCrousenn]

I remember this game. It came with some kind of low budget PC magazine. As a kid I kinda liked it... And finished it.

[@Lolbigfart]

Your videos are amazing and i hope you never stop....... speaking of which if you havent already can you do a forgotten games on Hot Wheels Velocity X and/or matchbox emergency patrol these games were my childhood growing up but no one ever mentioned them....................ever....(both made by thq.......rip)

[@Vectrex4Life]

Thank you very much! A Hot Wheels games episode might fit the bill, we'll see.

[@mr.bonez3150]

Just discovered your channel love it!

[@Vectrex4Life]

Thank you very much! I'm glad you found me.

[@DiamondMinerStudios]

6:14 sounds like a Dreamcast that got posessed

[@marcocinquini1985]

I just took this game out along with other late 90's games and demo discs, but even any scratches, the Cd isn't being read... Am I lucky? So I found your video. I'm impressed someone reviewed this sh..., err, game recently.

[@dimhollow_]

This game have a ''second name'', Midnight racing. This ''second game'' is the same with without police, other racers, reset botton, without history, without city names, without ''your car is destroyed, you fail'' or something like this and new ways to get the 2 locked cars. This game was available through the Nescau, Nestlé (i am brazilian and i do not know if it exists in USA). I hope this text does not have many spelling mistakes.

[@Vectrex4Life]

I see, your English is good. Though I think you should watch the whole video my friend.

[@Lollllllz]

i love that this game has a e24 nissan caravan roaming the USA @ 4:01

[@zander7x7]

The thumbnail made me think you were talking about Spy hunter, that high tech transforming car game.

[@hifimidlo9439]

Hey. This is your old friend Connor, wanted to know if you'd like to talk, after all these years. Stumbled across this and was hit hard with the feels, lol.

[@ElectroPotato]

Autobahn Racing is also the same but at daylight. :D

[@KudosK42]

Didn't know Danny DeVito was in this game.

[@CaptainLL3097]

Oh finally after years...

[@RoundenBrown]

I still have this game. Good times.

[@kertaspaper94]

A very small part of my childhood. I remember constantly trying to ram a truck only to get wrecked. Didn't think was so shitty until now. 7 year old me was so naive.

[@GlenGlingo9]

This is the sort of amorality that ends careers of first time Steam developers.

[@MGR99]

OMFG, I have this game sitting on a shelf in my mum's flat! Tbh, I kinda liked it at the time, never got fat though.

[@redchiron6647]

The mini looks nice

[@RoundenBrown]

Had a dream about this game.

[@jackshikikunt3042]

The flight simulator part is really good lol

[@scottthewaterwarrior]

I guess I've just been really lucky, most the games I've picked up from bargain bins have been really good, or at least OK. As a kid I got Interstate 76 (or Nitro Pack, the stand alone expansion for it) at the local Rite Aid pharmacy and it is one of my favorite games of all time!

[@bronsonarabie1078]

Okay, flame shield at the ready: *_I actually have a fondness for Hot Wired._* I used to play it back when I was about 3-4ish, back at a time where I used to play lower-end PC racing games like Test Drive 6 and Dirt Track Racing, games which I also have very fond memories of (to the point where I do physically own copies of both TD6 and HW, the latter of which can surprisingly run on Windows 10 without modifications). Usually it was the aesthetic/'mood' that these games had (TD6 and HW both had amazing soundtracks and looks to them) that drew me in, but I do atleast understand the perspective of others that have differing opinions (such as this video, which I found absolutely hilarious), and have since expanded my tastes to better vintage PC racers like NFS4 and Carmageddon II. Of course, I will not forgive Xicat for such absolutely-audacious duplicity like this; I didn't even know of the four other games that were directly copied from Hot Wired, only knowing of Midnight Racing before seeing this video. Also, to put light on the Thorntons-liscenced clone, I have a sneaking suspicion that IncaGold/Xicat, having published Hot Wired and their clones in 2001, were imitating the distribution of Need For Speed: Porsche Unleashed demo disks in Texaco gas stations a year prior.

[@Vectrex4Life]

I see, interesting... You know, I do get what you mean with Hot Wired's aesthetic. Aside from the clones, I don't think I've played another racing game that is similar in style.

[@Krozbot]

Did anyone notice that Speed Thief and Midnight Road Warriors have different cars than the rest? by this logic, technically they are _slightly_ different.

[@MikeRetroModz]

The concept is so rad, how can u fuck this up so bad loll

[@JohnSmith-kn5xx]

It's been 4 months...Hype intensifies

[@Vectrex4Life]

Next episode is coming! :)

[@JohnSmith-kn5xx]

Vectrex4Life :D

[@Flygoniaks]

[12:30] Hey, I played that game!

[@1battlemedic622]

This makes me more depressed than how depressed I currently am right now.

[@mazdamiataUSDMspec]

I know this is old but there is also another copy called ,,Polskie derby". This is the same game but with Polish cars.

[@dogukankuru1969]

Oh maaaaan i remember this game and i thought this was midnight club woa

[@a29_]

6:30 Space time bends for unknown reason

[@LoongYawLee73]

OMG I own Midnight Racing on my PC and I'm kinda shocked that there's six shitty carbon copies of it. Good job on this video: I'm giving you a sub.

[@tahatpa4246]

but i still love hot wired ... its was my childhood ... but what a story man .. i didnt know that

[@Benzinilinguine]

holy FUCK, I was *dying* at 6:48, thats a crazy glitch

[@peterkiss1204]

It had a demo that just went by the name "Thief".

[@ns_guy5149]

1:12 if shingo’s double crash worked

[@tokyowarfare6729]

Wow, cloning part was unexpected

[@boneneedle3360]

Please do a forgotten games on Think Tanks! That game was so obscure.

[@jknMEMES]

10:52 Is that... The vampire dude from Lego Racers I hear???

[@skullcrusherdestroyerofsouls]

nice use of metal gear solid music 10/10

[@febrianadji5758]

Wogh This is my childhood best game on pc platform back then Didn't know that I went so bad compare to nowadays

[@TorutheRedFox]

the commentary was probably supposed to sound like a mob boss is talking to you

[@TheLegitaMate1]

10:41 the music in the background....so nostalgic. I just know instantly that you're gonna break out the LEGO Racers Basil the Batlord music when a video game you're reviewing is terrible. It's one thing you've kept recurrent about Forgotten Games ever since it started.

[@derpedfox]

This is secretly Polybius

[@MrDuckie00]

3:08 Me oh please...WHY THE RUNWAY HAS A TRAFFIC JAM DANN IT!!!!

[@heimanlee5955]

The very-same game reminds me of WildTangent's racing games, which used as Chrysler's online racing game and their own Final Drive series. You've found the opposite because the WildTangent one is much better.

[@heroicsultan7311]

2:37 is that a Diablo stretched over a Corvette body!?!?