Planet Hot Wheels

Planet Hot Wheels
File:Planet Hot Wheels Loading Screen 3.jpg
Developer(s)	Mattel Hot Wheels
Publisher(s)	Mattel
Series	Hot Wheels
Platforms	Windows Mac OS
Release date(s)	2001
Genre(s)	Massively Multiplayer Online Racing
Mode(s)	Multiplayer (with some single-player)

Planet Hot Wheels was a massively multiplayer online racing game created by Hot Wheels' developers and Mattel, Hot Wheels' parent company. However, in 2004, after displaying a message on the site for nearly a year that Planet Hot Wheels would be back soon, Hot Wheels permanently removed the game from the website with no warning issued to its players. Many Hot Wheels fans played the game and speculations have been made on why the game was removed, but Mattel has not made any official statements.

Many players enjoyed the virtual racing game because of the Highway 35 story features and because of its use of real world Hot Wheels' models and the ability to upgrade their cars with decals, paint jobs, weapons, and other assorted components. To get these parts players could buy specially marked Hot Wheels cars and enter a code to get an item. Users could also race and play mini-games to earn credits, the currency of Planet Hot Wheels, and purchase items with them.

Expansions

Mattel released six energy cars that each came with a CD and a race for each CD collected. When all were collected a player would be awarded with a special track build and they could race on that track.

The developers intended to release a track editor for the game. This would allow players to build their own race track and race with people on their friends list. However this feature only appeared in a single player form on the site, the more complex of a track the user created the more credits they could earn.

Notes

In the game's files, there is an application called "carena". This includes original Planet Hot Wheels tracks, and removing the feature to choose your car. If you choose to play by yourself, the car will start steering and driving backwards. If you pick at least two players, this "bug" is fixed.

Also in the main game, there are two "bonus tracks" called "loopcheck" and "newcheck".