In the kart racer gaming ecosystem, being tied to a widely known IP is as important, if not more important, than the gameplay featured in the title itself. Even if we laud games like Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, Lego Racers, Diddy Kong Racing, and Mario Kart for their gameplay, literally all of them are actually spinoffs stemming from a more famous gaming franchise. Hell, the entire genre was created from a Mario spinoff in the first place. So how can a development team come up with a kart racer meant to compete with the big boys, if it’s not based on some other brand that will catch our attention in the first place? That’s what the team behind Hot Rod Mayhem tried to achieve.

You can shut the announcer up. I recommend you doing so right away.

Hot Rod Mayhem tries to use its overall lack of attachment towards any other IP to its favor. Instead of having a roster of characters for you to choose, you can create one. It will always result in a hideous, nightmare-inducing homunculus, but hey, it gives you a reason to play its many cups, as winning them grants you new faces, wigs and costumes for your characters. Its premise is that this is a competition contested by dolls brought to life, with levels being based around amusement parks, backyards, and whatnot. An overall adequate premise for something lacking in charisma and marketability, even if Re-Volt had already done that back in… 1999…

It might be mediocre but it sure is good looking.

Gameplay-wise, it’s a very standard kart racer. There are items to be used against other drivers, and they are all carbon copies of typical Mario Kart items, including a dart that acts like the dreaded Blue Shell. Each racetrack contains a handful of shortcuts, turbo boosters, and traps. These tracks also feature mirrored versions, which are used to create more cups. Given how there are only ten tracks in total, you’ll see these variations quite often. Drifting isn’t very enjoyable, and cars feel way too heavy. One hit or a misplaced jump, and you complete lose momentum and acceleration. The controls are responsive, but the overall gameplay just doesn’t ooze the “mayhem” promised in the title.

Items act just like the ones from Mario Kart – the balls are shells, the dart is the blue shell, the spinning top is the banana…

Overall, whilst Hot Rod Mayhem is a competent kart racer in terms of visuals and performance, it’s just not the most fun experience. It lacks speed, it lacks track variety, and most importantly, it lacks charisma. As much as the idea of creating racers of your own sounds appealing, they are almost always too ugly to look at. The sound department is far from memorable (the announcer sucks) as well. All in all, you will only have a crack with this game if it’s literally the only kart racer at your disposal. And I highly doubt that will ever happen to literally anyone out there.

Hot Rod Mayhem is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PC and Switch.

Reviewed on PS5.

A copy of Hot Rod Mayhem was provided by the publisher.