There have been a massive number of Hot Wheels games over the years, starting back in 1985 with the game of the same name, but the series doesn’t often venture into the destruction derby arena. Hot Wheels Monster Trucks: Stunt Mayhem challenges players to get behind the wheel to cause monster truck mayhem.

Developer 3DClouds is no stranger to racing titles of big-name, family-friendly franchise games presented with arcade-style gameplay, including Paw Patrol and Transformers, so they’ve had some experience on the track. Drivers are tasked with getting behind the wheel of huge trucks to crush through various barrels, crates, and structures while pulling off stunts on ramps, rings of fire, and the occasional boss-style particular slope.

The campaign is a straightforward series of levels, beginning with a basic arena. Of course, the iconic Hot Wheels aesthetic is at play here, with toy-like trucks and setpieces. While it had a certain charm, the novelty wore off due to the level of repetitiveness. The variation between stages is minimal; travelling around the map, there’s a significant focus on arena-based stages that feel very similar soon before moving onto a night-time variation of the same general layout. It isn’t until a decent chunk into the campaign that stages mix it up, moving into a canyon and then into much more dense and exciting regions, including zones filled with toxic sludge and beaches. Still, these stages are not until I enter my monster trucking career.

Stunts are basic, ranging from horizontal spins to vertical flips and, of course, a hefty number of jumps. Chaining stunts or crashing into objects to rack up points is the goal, but sustaining a combo is challenging due to maneuverability and limited air time. Playing on PlayStation 5, controls were easy to pick up on, mostly using the left and right sticks. There was a slight feeling of heft to driving, but while it felt clunky, I felt more like I was in a monster truck with a slight resistance in movement when turning.

However, it was so easy to awkwardly veer into the sides of structures and use a chunk of the short stage time recovering. Likewise, it’s straightforward to flip over, with very little ability to recover, breaking combos and requiring a prompt to reset the car upright.

While scoring combos can be difficult, Hot Wheels Monster Trucks: Stunt Mayhem is relatively easy. Completing stages with a high score is barely a challenge, and doing so doesn’t dig into much of the time limit of each level. Most states have a bonus objective, ranging from completing the stage in a particular truck to wrecking a certain percentage of destructible objects. There’s some replayability to racking up more points, but getting a high score doesn’t feel overly satisfying.

I did enjoy unlocking new vehicles as I progressed. With iconic Hot Wheels cars ready to crush, including the dinosaur destruction machine, the Mega-Wrex, and the burger-adorned Buns of Steel, some stages require certain cars to be used, but mostly, mixing it up was satisfying enough.

There is a co-op, but unfortunately, it’s a local 2-player only and doesn’t stray far from the base gameplay. I was keen to play against other drivers, so it seemed like a strange choice to limit the number of opportunities to face off on the field, leaving the multiplayer feeling lacklustre and underdone.

Hot Wheels Monster Trucks: Stunt Mayhem is a family-friendly foray into vehicle-based destruction. While the gameplay is simplistic, it’s a challenging enough experience for younger gamers, and they may get a kick out of the chaos. While there’s a reasonable amount of content, I didn’t feel enough momentum to keep driving.

Written by: Yasmin Noble