WATCH: Micro Machines 30 years later

While we await the arrival of Codemasters’ next Formula 1 game and speculate about what EA will do to the pre-eminent racing game creator, it’s time to sit back, relax, and remember why we started playing video games in the first place. Fun.

Micro Machines is the epitome of fantastical virtual entertainment, a game that took your imagination for a ride. Based upon a toy many of us had and loved growing up, miniature scale models of cars made by Galoob (now part of Hasbro), Codemasters’ Micro Machines game on the Sega Mega Drive brought life to the models by placing them on kitchen worktops and pool tables.

It’s an idea that still appeals to this day and despite the last Micro Machines game being a bit of a damp squib, plenty of other developers are still playing with the basic premise. Even as recent as August last year, Tinker Racers was a top-down arcade racer set atop kitchen appliances and digital stores are full of similar facsimiles.

Here we look back at the main Micro Machines series and celebrate its existence in 2021, 30 years since the first was released.