Pocket Cars

This is a decent "Re-Volt style" RC Racing game.
Driving model/physics in this game are done quite well. The RC Car physics seem to be recreated well, since the car is very fragile in acceleration, sharp turns and jumps&landings. Suspension seems to be working in the cars and it does soften the ride, but I think the ride even on dirt isn't as bumpy as it should be simply because the tracks don't recreate the roughness of the dirt/grass surfaces. There is one major design problem though: the game offers driving assists in the form of torque (acceleration) assist, steer assist and stability (?) assist. I understand why this was made – controlling the car without them becomes extremely difficult since the slightest of too hard turns or accelerations can send the car spinning, forcing the player to fast-tap to control the car. But that's the point of gaming! The game should be challenging and engaging. The way steering assist was implemented is the car auto-steers where the camera "aims", which smoothens the steering and acceleration experience, but makes it feel… artificial. What could be done instead is either an adjustable "sensitivity" of inputs, where a 100% input (for example L/R arrow or gas ←↑→) doesn't immediately translate to 100% input for the car, but would be rather smooth from 0% to 100%. Another way of "fixing" excessive car instability would be to set how fast the wheels can turn to a maximum steering angle for each car individually, like in Re-Volt. Driving without assists entirely is a much better experience, but also much harder.
Car on car collisions seem to be very simple, cars do not entagle with each other. Collisions with walls are somewhat simple, although it is possible sometimes to drive up a curb or get stuck on it if no wheels touch the ground. That proves the game's physics properly propel the car off it's wheels, which is how it should be of course.
As for camera, when driving forward it does a good job. But the camera should definitely not turn around by itself when driving backwards! I just want to slightly reverse and camera does a complete 180 immediately and now I don't see forwards where I want to go. There is a "look backwards" button camera in the game, at least give me an option to disable automatic camera 180flip when reversing. Re-Volt didn't do that, NFSMW didn't do that, RC Cars camera did turn back when reversing, but only after quite a while.
I like the way in which you advance within the game – there is no "cash" or "fame" you gain from winning races, you just have to complete certain targets on each race, you can redo the race as many times you want, when you complete enough of them, you unlock more cars and races. No grinding, a straightforward system.
Graphics are very nice, but the optimisation is lacking, you get FPS drops especially in areas with a lot of leaves and bushes.
There is a native Linux version, but I was not able to run it on a dedi AMD GPU.
Tracks seem to be okay, the environments are diverse enough, you get neighbourhoods, sidewalks, parks, bushes, wild west towns, building interiors, stunt arenas. Certainly inspired by Re-Volt, maybe RC Cars too. You need to hit "checkpoints" for the lap to be counted, RC Cars style, although it's always a bit ambiguous where the "border" of these checkpoints actually are. Maybe a system of two vertical physical poles acting as checkpoints would work better.
Pickups – you don't roll them when picking them up on the track, but pick two before the race and you fill the bar which allows you to use either of the two. Not sure if this is a better or worse system, since a randomness factor always brings some chaos and unpredictability, and as a consequence, replayability to the game. Being able to choose will inevitably make some weapons underused and other overused. There is a greater variability of pickups than in Re-Volt and their effects look nice.
There is a boost system, similar to pickups you pick them up around the track and you get some speed boost for a short amount of time. Pretty useful, not particularly overpowered. I think this is okay even though personally I am not a fan of too many artificial boosts in racing games that are readily available. Here it seems reasonably balanced.
You can put on different types of tyres on the car and it does make a real difference in the grip level on different surfaces. A very good system, but would be much better, would have a much deeper meaning for gameplay if there would be no steering/accel assists.
There is a car customisation system, adds some flavour if you're interested in having certain colours on your car. I like the fact that there is no way of "upgrading" your car parts, so you know what other cars are capable of if you are driving the same car, there is no dissonance here where you can be driving the same car but be faster or slower due to invisible updates on a car. Want different driving characteristics, pick a different RC car.
Creating "local" race – instead of playing a preset race from a season, you are be able to start a custom race where you pick the environment, track arrangement, number of laps and opponents, but the limits on opponents and laps should be higher, as well as an option to put pickups on or off, boost on or off.
Music is very meh, only some of the tracks are good enough, but this is completely tertiary in a racing game.
Sounds are good, although maybe there could be a bit more of them, like for drifting, sliding around, driving on a dirt/grass surface etc. Similar for pickups - they could be louder and have a bit more sound effects to them.
Game uses Steam cloud to store your progress.
In the current state the game is entirely playable and if you are into racing games and/or RC car games, this is a decent game to try out. But it;s abandoned by the developer, which is a shame, as it has good fundementals (physics) for a good RC racing game. Out of all "Re-Volt clones", this, even in an unfinished version, seems to be the best at the moment, especially after turning off assists. It could use some championship cup, 12 player races, some extra late-game mode like "Clockwork Carnage" from Re-Volt, some Time Trial challenges for all tracks for various classes with online classifications, idk. There is definitely a lot that could be done for the game, but doesn't look like it will happen. So the game is abandoned, but I still give it a positive review – why you ask? Because the game itself is actually totally playable and fun. If you like Re-Volt or RC Cars, get it on a discount, turn off assists and you can have some good time playing it.

Steam User 5

Reviewed last year

This is a decent "Re-Volt style" RC Racing game.
Driving model/physics in this game are done quite well. The RC Car physics seem to be recreated well, since the car is very fragile in acceleration, sharp turns and jumps&landings. Suspension seems to be working in the cars and it does soften the ride, but I think the ride even on dirt isn't as bumpy as it should be simply because the tracks don't recreate the roughness of the dirt/grass surfaces. There is one major design problem though: the game offers driving assists in the form of torque (acceleration) assist, steer assist and stability (?) assist. I understand why this was made – controlling the car without them becomes extremely difficult since the slightest of too hard turns or accelerations can send the car spinning, forcing the player to fast-tap to control the car. But that's the point of gaming! The game should be challenging and engaging. The way steering assist was implemented is the car auto-steers where the camera "aims", which smoothens the steering and acceleration experience, but makes it feel… artificial. What could be done instead is either an adjustable "sensitivity" of inputs, where a 100% input (for example L/R arrow or gas ←↑→) doesn't immediately translate to 100% input for the car, but would be rather smooth from 0% to 100%. Another way of "fixing" excessive car instability would be to set how fast the wheels can turn to a maximum steering angle for each car individually, like in Re-Volt. Driving without assists entirely is a much better experience, but also much harder.
Car on car collisions seem to be very simple, cars do not entagle with each other. Collisions with walls are somewhat simple, although it is possible sometimes to drive up a curb or get stuck on it if no wheels touch the ground. That proves the game's physics properly propel the car off it's wheels, which is how it should be of course.
As for camera, when driving forward it does a good job. But the camera should definitely not turn around by itself when driving backwards! I just want to slightly reverse and camera does a complete 180 immediately and now I don't see forwards where I want to go. There is a "look backwards" button camera in the game, at least give me an option to disable automatic camera 180flip when reversing. Re-Volt didn't do that, NFSMW didn't do that, RC Cars camera did turn back when reversing, but only after quite a while.
I like the way in which you advance within the game – there is no "cash" or "fame" you gain from winning races, you just have to complete certain targets on each race, you can redo the race as many times you want, when you complete enough of them, you unlock more cars and races. No grinding, a straightforward system.
Graphics are very nice, but the optimisation is lacking, you get FPS drops especially in areas with a lot of leaves and bushes.
There is a native Linux version, but I was not able to run it on a dedi AMD GPU.
Tracks seem to be okay, the environments are diverse enough, you get neighbourhoods, sidewalks, parks, bushes, wild west towns, building interiors, stunt arenas. Certainly inspired by Re-Volt, maybe RC Cars too. You need to hit "checkpoints" for the lap to be counted, RC Cars style, although it's always a bit ambiguous where the "border" of these checkpoints actually are. Maybe a system of two vertical physical poles acting as checkpoints would work better.
Pickups – you don't roll them when picking them up on the track, but pick two before the race and you fill the bar which allows you to use either of the two. Not sure if this is a better or worse system, since a randomness factor always brings some chaos and unpredictability, and as a consequence, replayability to the game. Being able to choose will inevitably make some weapons underused and other overused. There is a greater variability of pickups than in Re-Volt and their effects look nice.
There is a boost system, similar to pickups you pick them up around the track and you get some speed boost for a short amount of time. Pretty useful, not particularly overpowered. I think this is okay even though personally I am not a fan of too many artificial boosts in racing games that are readily available. Here it seems reasonably balanced.
You can put on different types of tyres on the car and it does make a real difference in the grip level on different surfaces. A very good system, but would be much better, would have a much deeper meaning for gameplay if there would be no steering/accel assists.
There is a car customisation system, adds some flavour if you're interested in having certain colours on your car. I like the fact that there is no way of "upgrading" your car parts, so you know what other cars are capable of if you are driving the same car, there is no dissonance here where you can be driving the same car but be faster or slower due to invisible updates on a car. Want different driving characteristics, pick a different RC car.
Creating "local" race – instead of playing a preset race from a season, you are be able to start a custom race where you pick the environment, track arrangement, number of laps and opponents, but the limits on opponents and laps should be higher, as well as an option to put pickups on or off, boost on or off.
Music is very meh, only some of the tracks are good enough, but this is completely tertiary in a racing game.
Sounds are good, although maybe there could be a bit more of them, like for drifting, sliding around, driving on a dirt/grass surface etc. Similar for pickups - they could be louder and have a bit more sound effects to them.
Game uses Steam cloud to store your progress.
In the current state the game is entirely playable and if you are into racing games and/or RC car games, this is a decent game to try out. But it;s abandoned by the developer, which is a shame, as it has good fundementals (physics) for a good RC racing game. Out of all "Re-Volt clones", this, even in an unfinished version, seems to be the best at the moment, especially after turning off assists. It could use some championship cup, 12 player races, some extra late-game mode like "Clockwork Carnage" from Re-Volt, some Time Trial challenges for all tracks for various classes with online classifications, idk. There is definitely a lot that could be done for the game, but doesn't look like it will happen. So the game is abandoned, but I still give it a positive review – why you ask? Because the game itself is actually totally playable and fun. If you like Re-Volt or RC Cars, get it on a discount, turn off assists and you can have some good time playing it.
Steam User 4

Reviewed last year

A wonderful example of INDIE development at its best! :
Realistic enough to be a simulator in terms of handling, physics and collisions & I for one would love to see Official RC styled Proper racing tracks added (perhaps without the weapons and boost etc..).
Even with all the fun and messing about with rocket, EMP's and whatnot...I thoroughly enjoyed the game! Excellent Modelling, physics and Tracks to enjoy!
Well worth the money!
STEAM is rife with fake & copy/paste Reviews, the Forums are Toxic & Endorse Censorship
Click Here to See REAL Gameplay, Analysis & Honest Reviews
Steam User 0

Reviewed last year

Fun arcade style RC game for people like me who shy away from the realism of VRC Pro. I've owned and played IRL with electric and gas powered RC cars growing up. This controls close enough to the real thing to be fun and it looks better than old school ReVolt. You'll have fun
Steam User 0

Reviewed last year

Absolutely phenomenal; Thank You! Please make more amazing games.
Very Cool little Remote Control Cars!
COOP:
Options > Control > Controller #2
Local > Players > Split Screen 2
Vertical or Horizontal Split! 1-4 Local Players using Controller or Keyboard.
Steam User 1

Reviewed 12.2023

Good splitscreen race game. I am giving a thumb up because of the continuing development.
Steam User 1

Reviewed 12.2023

Fun RC game, dev went quiet for a while but is now back and adding new vehicles and features.
Steam User 0

Reviewed 12.2023

Genuinely the best rc car physics you can find

Pocket Cars

Game Discussion

Anonymous

Steam User 5

Steam User 4

Steam User 0

Steam User 0

Steam User 1

Steam User 1

Steam User 0