“I am an artist. The track is my canvas, and the car is my brush.” *
So said F1 world champion Norman Graham Hill in 1967. His famous quote metaphorically describes the artistry involved in steering a high-performance single seater around some of the most dangerous and challenging racing circuits in the world.
Splash Cars – a cutesy arcade racer from Czech Republic developer Paper Bunker – takes this quote and uses it in a quite literal sense – the player’s vehicle is used to paint the game world.
In a similar fashion to Nintendo’s other famous paint-em-up series, Splatoon, the goal is to paint the game environment. The isometric 3D maps start off as colourless and grey, and players must drive round to ‘paint’ the landscape.
Players also need to collect petrol and power-ups to fuel their painting exploits and can even enlist the help of NPC cars to escape the attentions of a paint-hating police fore .
To make things slightly easier, players can join friends for local cooperative play for up to four players, helping you banish those pesky street cleaner foes for good.
There are a number of unlockable vehicles and tracks to choose from, plus customisable paint jobs, and three star ratings available for completing a level depending on how much paint has been spilt. It’s a simply progression system, but ideally suited to an retro-inspired arcade racing game.
Splash Cars is available digitally today (9th March) for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S, priced at £5.79/$6.99/€6.99. The game is also available for PC via Steam for £3.99.
Do you like the look of Splash Cars? Let us know in the comments below.
*What Graham Hill actually said to Auto Racing magazine was: “In a race my car becomes part of me, and I become part of it. I’m like a painter with canvas and brush. My car being the brush, and the circuit my canvas”. It doesn’t work quite as well on a £10 T-shirt though, does it?
