PixelJunk Racers

PixelJunk Racers is the first game in the PixelJunk series created by Q-Games. At its core, the game may seem like a racing game similar to slot cars from a 2D overhead point of view, but the game has more to do with the mission-based driving genre, with all of the different modes available. The game features 16 core gameplay modes; off that number, 12 modes have a variant labeled "Turbo", and four of them also have a variant labeled "Master", which is the harder setting. It features 10 different tracks, all rendered in full 3D. 
 

Gameplay Modes 

• In the Zone - Other racers have zones marked behind them. Stay within them while maintaining speed until they disappear.
  
• Combo Racers - Overtake other racers to build your combo and increase your speed. Overtake the first place car within the time limit. Crashes cancel the combo.
  
• Rival Racers - Beat the rivals by picking the best lane and hitting speed boosts.
  
• Fireball Frenzy - Once an overtake combo is reached, your car turns into a fireball. Hitting other racers will increase speed.
  
• Sunday Drivers - Overtake as many cars as possible. Other cars will move much slower than yours.
  
• Speed Monkey - Similar to Combo Racers except that speed will always increase until you crash.
  
• Balloon Burst - At the beginning of the race, use the accelerator to inflate your car. Release it when ready to send it flying while you pick the lanes. Distance equals points.
  
• Hot Rods - Avoid other cars and use the throttle sparingly to avoid crashes.
  
• Escape - Your car is much slower than the blue flames inhabiting the track. Switch lanes to avoid the flames coming in behind you.
  
• Death Race - While your car is on fire, hitting other cars will net you points. Once a car has been hit, it will turn into a blue flame. Hit the blue flame and your race is over.
  
• Buddy Race - Avoid other cars while maintaining a close proximity to your partner. The closer you two are, the faster your will go, but if one car slows down, the duo does as well.
  
• Hot Pursuit - Ram into the target car as much as possible.
  
• Sudden Death - Other cars are now missiles which are much slower than you are. Hitting even one missile ends the race, so avoid them.
  
• The Munchies - Your speed will constantly drop unless you run into other cars. If you don't hit another car fast enough since the last, you will slow down to a stop.
  
• Student Drivers - All other cars constantly switch lanes randomly. Wait for a gap between them to make your move.
  
• Biopolar or Bust! - Other cars are black and white. You gain points by ramming into them, but you can only hit cars of your color. Holding the accelerator switches to white, while releasing it switches back to black.
  
• In the Zone Turbo
• Combo Racers Turbo
• Speed Monkey Turbo
• Fireball Frenzy Turbo
• Rival Racers Turbo
• Hot Pursuit Turbo
• Hot Rods Turbo
• Escape Turbo
• Sudden Death Turbo
• The Munchies Turbo
• Biopolar or Bust! Turbo
• Speed Monkey Master
• Rival Racers Master
• Hot Rods Master
• Escape Master
  

PixelJunk Racers 2nd Lap

An update of the game, called PixelJunk Racers 2nd Lap, was released on the PlayStation Network August 24th 2010, although PlayStation Plus subscribers could download it two weeks early. People who already bought the first version received this update for free. The game is now with trophies.
 
The biggest update was the single-player portion, which was now much much easier. For example, in the original, in order to get a silver cup for an event the player has to score silver or better in both races; if he didn't succeed in one of them, the game takes the worst result as the result of the event. In 2nd Lap, the game now takes the best result in the event. Still, if the player want to acess the very last wave in Solo Tournament, he must have two waves all in gold.
 
Another big addition to the game is the Ghost Attack, replacing the Score Attack mode. It is basically the same mode, but players can now download other people's best time as ghosts, and race against them. All of the player's progress in leaderboards is now tracked in a new, global leaderboard called "Driver's Points".
 

Multiplayer

Every gameplay mode can be played with up to 8 players, although the multiplayer is local only. In fact, the only online-based feature the game has are leaderboards, through Ghost Attack.