[VR Game Review] Blaze Rush: Micro Machines meets Mario Kart in Glorious Stereo 3D

I normally don't give two shits about racing games. Some have surprised me in the past. I really liked the Rallisport Challenge games and Ridge Racer Type 4 for instance. But in assuming Blaze Rush was about racing, I misunderstood it from the get go. It biased me against picking it up until I was hard up for new VR content. What a fool I was.

If you've played RC Pro Am or Galaxy 5000 For the NES, Micro Machines for the Genesis or Rock n' Roll Racing for SNES, you mostly know what to expect. It is indeed isometric racing, with cars that will appear like little toys from your vantage point. However, there's much more of a focus on combat than in any of those games. I would liken it more closely to an isometric Mario Kart.

The core gameplay involves collecting boost powerups, without which you have no hope of placing first, and trying like hell not to skid off the track or be launched into space by somebody elses weapon. The three types of boost are varied in power and duration. Three types! That's to say nothing of the astonishing variety of weapons in this game.

...Or the variety of cars. You've got tank tread cars, jet cars, hover cars, moon rover cars, and they all actually handle differently depending on their means of traction. Then there's the variety of gameplay.

There's straight up races, elimination races, night races, a type where you're being chased by a crushing, grinding steamroller (seen below) and more. There's * a lot* of content in this game, and loads upon loads of gameplay variety.

There needed to be, surely? Without all the variation on cars, powerups and weapons, tracks, environments, gameplay modes and so on it would be an untenably simple game. It avoids that by constantly spicing up its (admittedly sound, tight and delightful) core gameplay in endless new ways as you progress through singleplayer.

Visually, the game is a treat. The tracks have all kinds of little environmental details you'll notice as you whip past like leaves, vines, metal junk and so forth. They really stand out as the 3D effect of VR is strongest for stuff that's close up, and the entire game is close up.

The bird's eye view of the neat looking car models is also a joy, they look rad as hell. The controls are equally polished, everything handles perfectly so when you die (and that will happen frequently) you'll have nobody to blame but yourself. Well, and random chance.

Random may not be the right word. But races are extremely chaotic to the point where, when shit gets truly hectic, it can be tough to tell what's going on. Often you'll die and have no idea how it happened. But mastering that chaos, learning to navigate it unharmed is all part of getting good at Blaze Rush.

For $9.99, Blaze Rush is easy to recommend for two reasons: Variety, and replayability. There is some meager semblance of a standard scifi story to it just to set the stage for races, but it's really just about racing, and it never gets old. This isn't some narrative driven experience you play through once, then set aside.

Games come in two varieties: Stories, and toys. A game like The Assembly is a story. Blaze Rush is a toy. In the best sense of the word, though. It's also one of the few VR games out right now with worthwhile multiplayer, so if you've got one or more VR equipped buddies, don't pass this up. I give Blaze Rush an 8/10.

^{Screenshot credits to Oculus}