Hot Wheels: Rift Rally may not be the future of racing games, but it is a unique offshoot of it. Taking advantage of AR technology, Hot Wheels: Rift Rally combines a real-life remote control car and available living room space to create an experience that is surprisingly fun for the whole family.

The Hot Wheels: Rift Rally package retails for $130 and includes the Chameleon car, a set of four gates, and a digital copy of the game. With a camera mounted on its hood, the Chameleon is the obvious star of the show, but it doesn’t reveal its full potential until setup is complete. After syncing the car to the game – a fairly easy process using Wi-Fi – the game will run through a series of tutorials that explain how everything works before setting players loose on a series of self-created tracks.

Using the AR camera mounted on its hood, the Chameleon RC car acts like the driving perspective of any racing game. The game itself transforms specific things that the camera sees into different objects, starting first with the design of the car and the gates, but it also can put obstacles and environmental touches onto the tracks as well. As the car is driving through the track on the screen, the Chameleon is literally making those same moves on the ground.

Within the game, there are different tracks to choose from, which transform those four gates with a different theme. Players are encouraged to make the track as complex as possible by arranging the gates in unique orientations, but the confines of the experience are apparent. Without a lot of space, there is only so much that Hot Wheels: Rift Rally can offer in terms of different twists and turns. However, most gamers will be initially delighted by the novel concepts on display, and even those who aren’t playing will have fun watching the RC car zoom through the space.

Stunt mode takes away the AR gates and allows the player to perform drifts and donuts while earning a high score. It's a lot more free-form and is a nice compliment to the more-structured track setup.

Another nice touch is the way that the different Chameleon skins (unlocked via a loot box system) will change the stats of the car. Players will actually feel how the car frames drive differently and influence the speed and handling of the Chameleon. Obviously, there are still limits as far as how fast the Chameleon can go and not instantly crash – it seems like the game has dialed in an appropriate top speed – but the design details go a long way for replayability. Even the way ground obstacles like water influence the movement of the car is really clever.

While the racing is fun, it is not without limitations. Depending on how much space is available, players can create a really complex track that includes a lot of twisting turns and the game does a great job of showing on-screen where to go. However, those without a lot of space to work with will find the experience gets restrictive if they want to keep changing the track layout.

Similarly, the Chameleon is still an RC car, so the environment will influence how well it works. Driving on carpet isn't an issue - hard surfaces are ideal - but it can struggle with transitions between something like a rug and a hardwood floor.

In-game, the track selection is solid and the different themes that get placed onto the gates are varied enough to support a racing game. It is a bit of a bummer that the car “skins” are part of a loot box system, but that’s par for the course in Hot Wheels racing games it seems. It might be a gimmick on the surface, but the developer Velan Studios wanted to ensure it still functions as a racing game.

Hot Wheels: Rift Rally is a bit pricey, but it offers a really creative experience that should garner the attention of a wide variety of gamers. It is built on a gimmick, so those who don’t find that cool will not be as entranced as others. However, Velan Studios has put together an experience that works well and delivers exactly what one would expect. Hot Wheels: Rift Rally is a racing game that plays out right in the living room.

Hot Wheels: Rift Rally is available now for iOS, PS4, and PS5. Game Rant was provided a retail PlayStation version of the game for review.