Hot Wheels Unleashed gameplay trailer is a plastic-burning blast through an old garage

The first Hot Wheels: Unleashed gameplay trailer shows everyone's favorite tiny cars  race their way through a vintage garage.

Hot Wheels: Unleashed marks the first game in the series to hit consoles since 2013's Hot Wheels: World's Best Driver, and it looks like a compelling enough return in its first official gameplay trailer. The autonomous toy cars look like real toys and the debut garage course looks varied enough, with a ramp shortcut and a spiderweb trap mixing things up a bit.

I will say, a lot of us are probably quite accustomed to racing games (not including hyper-realistic ones like Need for Speed and Forza) having some sort of power-up element, thanks to another series I can't quite remember the name of... I think Nintendo makes it. Anyway, the no-BS focus on the driving could appeal to the more competitive players, but the gameplay looks conspicuously orderly to my eyes.

The upcoming Hot Wheels game is being developed by Milestone Team, the studio behind the MotoGP racing series and a bunch of other motorcycle racing games. Since the studio is new to the Hot Wheels franchise, it's hard to say where they'll take Hot Wheels: Unleashed, but the synopsis for the gameplay trailer says there are "much more" tracks still to be revealed.

Hot Wheels: Unleashed is slated to launch on PS4/PS5, Xbox One/Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and PC on September 27.

Whether you're super into realistic destruction physics or you just want to chuck turtle shells at people, these are the best racing games to play right now.

Jordan Gerblick

After scoring a degree in English from ASU, I worked as a copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. Now, as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer, I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my apartment, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.