Hotshot Tales, Part 12: Royal Roadway Rumble

Hotshot Tales, Part 12: Royal Roadway Rumble

Royal Roadway (the third configuration of the Jungle track set in Hotshot Racing) has an infamous reputation for producing chaotic races (especially in Barrel Barrage and Drive or Explode), due to having two major bottlenecks (one immediately after the first turn, and another before the final chicane series) within its layout. A recent Drive or Explode race over 7 laps on Expert difficulty against the AI bore this out, and ended up being one of the craziest races I've ever had. So here's how it all went down.

As usual, I chose Marcus' Carbon for its unrivaled speed and surprisingly good handling, but since Drive or Explode uses a rolling start, there was no need to worry about a perfect launch, as I would in Arcade Mode and Barrel Barrage. This time, I opted for a more aggressive approach than usual - a brave move considering how difficult it is to negotiate the bottlenecks after completing the fourth lap. It all started when I hit Viktor's Rennen multiple times on the first lap, and a simple tap on the right rear bumper was enough for me to finish him off, as he spun out into the inner wall and got stuck just long enough to be eliminated. But he was only the first casualty of this crazy race for survival.

Above and below: Viktor was the first victim of my rampage in this chaotic Drive or Explode event on Royal Roadway - I spun him out of control and into the inner wall, the first of many early exits for my opposition.

Inevitably, things got feistier later on, and at one point, Xing (in a Fastback) tried to knock me out of the race on the second turn. Fortunately, I had at least one boost in reserve, and used it to quickly catch up to the pack, barely managing to avoid elimination as I completed each sector within the time limit after the leader had done so. The pressure on the opposition eventually became too much for them to bear. Xing spun out on the second bottleneck a few laps later, and I hit him head-on, leaving him with no chance of recovery; shortly afterwards, a tap from Keiko's Eight Rock took him out for good.

Above, from top: Xing may have tried to take me out early on, but ultimately paid the ultimate price for his aggression - he got stuck on the second bottleneck, and I slammed into him, knocking him into the path of Keiko's Eight Rock, finishing him off.

From there, the opposition dropped like flies, and it wasn't long before I found myself as the sole survivor - but my work wasn't done yet. I just had to survive to the very end, and I did just that. I was relieved to do so, if only because I had faced elimination before the halfway mark. Had I not made it to the end, all of my "kills" in this event would've been rendered moot.

Above, from top: As I pulled away from what little was left of the pack, the opposition began to melt away - Alexa and Aston couldn't keep up, and with Mike and Keiko long gone by then, Toshiro was the only real threat - until he too ran out of time and fell by the wayside.

In short, this was one of the craziest events I've ever had in Hotshot Racing, and serves as a reminder that anything can happen, no matter what car/track/event combination you choose.