If we had to sum up the latest Hill Dash game in one word, it’d be “bouncy”.
Just like its predecessor, this drag racer is all about riding out the huge peaks and troughs in the track in front of you, using just the accelerator and brake to speed up, slow down and rotate in mid-air.
Overcook the speed and it feels like you’re trying to drive across a bouncy castle; go too slow and you might not even have enough momentum to get up the next hill, let alone beat the opponents in the lane next to you.
Thankfully there are tokens to collect in each race, so the more you play, the more you can upgrade your buggy in-between races, increasing speed, grip, stability and improving your tyres.
It gets tough quickly, but it’s not unfair – your calamitous, slapstick failures ease the pain of defeat by being hilarious; every time you mess up, your vehicle explodes (for some reason) and sends the driver ragdolling out onto the track. Oof.
The cheerful cartoon presentation softens the blow as well. MMX Hill Dash 2’s steady stream of upgrades means your vehicle is constantly improving, allowing you to tackle ever more outlandish terrain.
London studio Hutch Games has made a game with that all-important “just one more go” quality in abundance. So, if we had to pick another word to describe MMX Hill Dash 2 besides “bouncy” – it’d be “moreish”.