Hot Wheels recently released a five episode cel-shaded cartoon called World Race. Now that all five episodes are out, THQ has released the game. Though the story of the game is slightly different than the series, most of the concepts are still there and Hot Wheels: World Race comes off as a good, solid racing game.

Though this game doesn't sport the same cel-shaded graphics of the cartoon (for some reason), what's here is done very well and far exceeds what I have seen in most Hot Wheels games. The vehicles look just like they do in the show and the complex tracks don't give you that odd deja-vu feeling. Even though the in-game graphics aren't cel-shaded, the cut-scenes come straight out of the movie allowing a person who hasn't seen the show to get a taste of what it is about.

The music in World Race is high powered and is great ear candy while you weave around other cars and shoot up ramps and walls. This game also features the song 'Hot' by Smashmouth. One failing in the sound department is the engine noises. It seems like no matter which car you are in, the engine sounds the same. This detracted some from the experience, but it was only a minor problem.

Most of the story from the series has been passed into Hot Wheels: World Race the game. In the show, a genius by the name of Peter Tezla has discovered a series of tracks created by an ancient race of people known as the Accelerons. Tezla has named these tracks Highway 35. He has gathered 35 people together and broken them up into five different teams. These teams are the Wave Rippers, Scorchers, Road Beasts Street Breed and Dune Ratz. These people are to race on these hidden raceways hoping to gain the title of the world's best racer. Tezla has charged these drivers with finding an object known as the 'Wheel of Power,' which is at the end of Highway 35.

And even though there is no Wheel of Power in the game, the vehicles and some of the tracks come directly out of the show. When you first start off, you will have only a few vehicles to choose from, but as you progress through the game you will unlock new vehicles, tracks and gallery objects.

There are several modes in Hot Wheels: Challenge Mode, League Mode, Multiplayer Mode, Quick Race and Time Trial. The meat and bones of this game lies in the League Mode. Here you will progress through three different difficulty levels (Rookie, Veteran and Expert), each with different requirements to progress to the next race. For example, in the Rookie mode, you need only to complete the race to progress, but in Veteran, there are many instances where you have to finish in second or third place.

Time Trial and Quick Race are just what they sound like. If you don't feel like committing yourself to a league series of races, then choose the Quick Race option. Or, race against the clock in the Time Trial.

The Challenge Mode acts as a training mode for the game. Here you will learn five basic concepts that you will use time and time again. You will find out that to earn Nitrox2 you need to either grab yellow rings, or perform stunts in the air. You will also grab burning wheels to open up shortcuts in the track, as well as use your Nitrox in order to reach shortcuts.

The Multiplayer aspect splits the screen so that you and a friend can race in any of the unlocked tracks with any of the available cars.

The handling of the cars was pretty dead on when you considered each vehicle's stats. There were some moments when the performance of the car out right surprised me. For instance, there was one car that felt rather slow but when I came in second place in the Veteran League, I was impressed.

Hot Wheels: World Race has some well balanced difficulty settings. The three leagues -- Rookie, Veteran and Expert -- seem to be set at just the right level. When going through the Rookie mode, I found it easy to take first or second place. But when I started in the second league, I found it to be a real challenge to meet the requirements of the courses. I just barely made it out of this setting. Once I found myself in the Expert level, I advanced in the league only occasionally.

Most of the controls in Hot Wheels: World Race are similar to those of other racing games. You accelerate with the X, steer with the Left Analog stick and break (or power-slide) with the Circle. Once you have built up your Nitrox2, you can release it with the R2 button. You can perform two different stunts in the air, tapping the D-pad to cause the car to roll or flip does these.

Hot Wheels is a solid racing game with some challenging aspects. You don't need to know anything about the series to enjoy the game, but if you have watched it then you will get a better experience.