Hot Wheels has been a surprisingly good source for entertainment in more than one medium. Very few of us have gone through childhood without playing with at least one toy car. Even little girls play with them – Barbie drives them, and I believe she once had a tie-in with Hot Wheels. Toy cars are universally entertaining, and when it comes to miniatures, Hot Wheels are the best.

Racing games have that same universal appeal. What better way to combine two universally appealing forms of entertainment than to make Hot Wheels racing games? It's worked well so far. Let's take a look at the latest edition to see if more great things can come of this property.

Stunt Track Challenge appears to have the right formula for success: vehicle customization, airborne stunts, and online play via the Network Adaptor (broadband Internet access required).

This may look exciting, but you know what they say about judging a book by its cover…

These elements are great on their own when executed properly, but they do nothing for the player when executed poorly, whether they're all featured in the same game or not.

Sad but true, Hot Wheels Stunt Track Challenge is a below-average racer with few stunts and a weak challenge. It could be argued that the challenge is weak in order to accommodate a younger audience. Okay, I'll buy that. What I won't buy is the poor racing mechanics. The vehicles' movements are far less fluid than you'll desire. The tracks are filled with wide turns that make it impossible to screw up. It's almost like the game is saying, "Go ahead and defeat me already! I know you're better than me – just go ahead and finish me off!"

Power-sliding isn't necessary. Speed boosts are handy, but fail to boost the car as much as they should. You go faster, your speedometer makes that clear, as do your opponents, which seem to sit there and let you pass them by. (They can use speed boosts too, but it's rare that they do.)

Corkscrews were placed on some of the tracks to make the game seem more extreme. Five-year-olds might be amused, but everyone else will wonder why the track fills the screen. You don't feel like you're upside down when all you see is a curved track. The effect would have been so much more immersive if they narrowed the track and placed tall buildings, a pretty sky, and other real-world (or make believe) objects in the background. These objects would flip upside down as you enter the corkscrew, giving the illusion that you're driving upside down.

More than 50% of this game is dedicated to performing stunts. Not the death-defying stunts of Wave Race 64 (a seven-year-old Nintendo 64 game) or the outrageous stunts of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. You get stunts that include the following:

§             Flip upside down.

§             Spin left and right.

Boy is that exciting! Four ways to flip/spin your car. I've seen more variety on the Game Boy Advance.

The funny thing is, the game seems to know that these stunts aren't enough. During the so-called "stunt challenges," your goal might not have anything to do with performing stunts. Instead, it may involve the destruction of a large monster's teeth (drive up a ramp to lift your vehicle into the air and hit the monster's teeth), the collection of items, or the speed at which you can complete a simple task.

Multiplayer is limited to online play and a challenge mode where you and your friends can take turns to see who's the best. Call me crazy, but in this day and age, is that what kids really want – a game where they can take turns? Super Monkey Ball could get away with it for one mini-game, but that's your only option in Stunt Track Challenge. You could go online, but you need broadband for that, and I doubt you'll find too many gamers out there looking for a challenge, something the single-player mode doesn't provide.

If I didn't know better I'd say this was Resident Evil Racing.

This may be the only new Hot Wheels game on the market, but that's not an excuse to stuff it in your relatives' stockings. Get 'em something they'll enjoy for months, like a used copy of Rumble Racing. Both promise extreme racing and exciting multiplayer action. Rumble Racing delivered on those promises three years ago when it was released. This game doesn't.

Gameplay: 6
A basic, no-frills, no-thrills extreme racer without any extreme gameplay elements.

Graphics: 5
Just as boring to look at as it is to play.

Sound: 5
Everything you'd expect from a no-frills racing game. You've heard sound effects like these before, I'm sure. The techno-style soundtrack and the annoying announcer bring back memories of other disappointing games.

Difficulty: Easy
What difficulty? Where? I couldn’t find any difficult challenges in this game. I guess it's like the practical joke version of Where's Waldo. You look forever but never find him.

Concept: 3
A dummied-down racing game that utilizes a big-name license.

Multiplayer: 3
If the gameplay is your bag, chances are the online multiplayer mode (for up to six players) will be as well. The catch: there's no split-screen multiplayer. Hot Wheels is most popular with kids, and kids are least likely to play a game online. You need broadband to play it online, leaving millions of dial-up users without a multiplayer option.

Overall: 5.9
It's not unplayable, so I can't go much lower than a 5.9. This is the most wonderful time of the year, however. Do you really want to be playing a game that's playable but isn't most wonderful?