Toy Review: Volvo Trucks x Transformers Collaborative VNR Optimus Prime

Review:  #841

Name:  VNR Optimus Prime

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Autobot

Line:  Volvo Trucks x Transformers Collaborative

Year of Release:  2023

Size Class:  N/A

Mold Status:  redeco of "Holiday Optimus Prime"

PACKAGING:

VNR Optimus Prime has a really interesting history (basically suspected to have been a cancelled Amazon exclusive, then initially released in a weird out there color scheme), and he comes in a surprisingly smaller box than expected.

The sides have some nice line art, which is different to your standard packaging.

TRUCK MODE:

Optimus transforms into a Volvo VNR 300, which is the truck that Amazon typically uses, hence being suspected as a Amazon exclusive.

Unlike the first release, this figure is in typical Optimus colors, with a red cap, and a combination blue and black rear.

He's approximately the size of a Voyager, which isn't a bad size but price is a bit high for what you get if you think about it.

He has six rolling wheels, and when you look at him from the side, you kind of feel that the truck bed looks a bit long, proportionally, so it feels a little bit off.

If you look underneath, you can see that this Optimus doesn't transform like how a normal Optimus does.  The rear is quite gappy as a result.

There are some nice details on the figure, such as the Volvo sculpting on the rear mudflaps.  Interestingly, you can also see the Matrix of Leadership through the rear.

The nice details carries to the front, where the grill has a surprising amount of detail.

It's a good truck overall, although the blue sides look a bit weird (rather than a silver which you would expect), but that's unavoidable given that they form the robot legs.

TRAILER:

This release comes with a trailer that originally released with the Earthrise Optimus Prime trailer.

It's your stock standard Optimus Prime trailer, and has two flip down legs so it can stand on its own.

The rear is black and has a surprising amount of sculpted detailing on it.  You can see the robot gun stored underneath the trailer behind the rear wheels.

The trailer can of course hit onto the cab, and this explains why the rear section was so long.

It's a good inclusion, even though it bumps up the price, but at least it makes the figure feel more complete than if it was only just the cab.

TRANSFORMATION:

One of the most interesting Optimus Prime transformations we've had.  It transforms completely different to nearly every other Optimus figure in the past.  The front unfolds to become the legs, and the arms are from underneath.  However, the rest of the cab has a lot of twisting and folding to form the robot torso, which is what makes it interesting.  Through it all, you'd come to release a lot of the classic Optimus Prime elements as faux including the chest windows and truck grill on his torso.

ROBOT MODE:

Optimus's robot mode may look a little bit odd at first, but in actually, it's really good.  He has all the iconic elements of the character... but a lot of it is faux details after you see the back of the figure...

The biggest kibble, and most awkward thing on this robot, are the legs, which has the bulk of the cab behind it.  It makes his legs super big in size.  However, the wheels that attach to his back look really nice.

The head sculpt is fantastic, and it is classic Optimus.

He's roughly Voyager size in robot mode, although looks slimmer than some other Optimus given his longer legs.

Looking from the side, you can really see how far back his legs protrude.  His feet are slim, which makes it a little bit more problematic when standing him up.

Articulation is great with joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, knees and limited ankles.

There are some gimmicks here, including the customary opening chest to reveal the Matrix of Leadership.

The gun, which is folded up for storage in vehicle mode, can unfold here for robot mode.

It's a typical looking gun for Optimus.  That's the thing, this figure tries so hard to replicate all the usual Optimus Prime features, but does it in a different way, and that's what makes this figure interesting.

The gun, when folded up, can peg onto his back for storage too.

The trailer can be used here, and it can open up to form the repair bay.  Unfortunately, this version doesn't include Roller, making the trailer feel a bit empty and useless.

The repair bay can be used either flat or standing up, but the thick legs can get in the way.

You may not be able to tell at first glance, but nearly all of the red uses in the upper body is paint, and so it has a richer darker shade to it, which makes him look really nice.

The thin feet can be an impediment at times, but Optimus is mostly able to hold the poses you'd want him to.

A surprisingly good robot mode for an exclusive, it feels like that there was more effort put into this than what you'd normally expect for a smaller run figure.

OVERALL:

VNR Optimus Prime is a figure, that despite being yet another Optimus Prime figure, does things differently enough that he is an easy recommend.  It makes the figure interesting, especially with the transformation that is completely different to what you'd expect.  He has two good modes, with the only flaw in robot mode being the big chunky legs.

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Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled (PS4)

After the fantastic remake of the original Crash Bandicoot trilogy from the PS1, the developers returned to not only give us a remake of the equally fun Crash Team Racing, but also its sequel from the PS2, Nitro Kart. It’s a remake similar in the vein of N. Sane Trilogy, where it gives the game a massive graphics upgrade, but retains everything else to be quite faithful to the originals.

One of the best things about the original game was that despite being a kart racer, it had a story mode. It’s not an amazing story mode but it did it well enough that it is something that all other kart racers should aspire to. This remake contains the story mode of the original game, but unfortunately not the one for Nitro Kart. Called the Adventure Mode, upon starting this, you have to select a difficulty setting from either Easy, Medium or Hard. The bad thing is that you cannot change this once you start it. It’s not bad except that Easy is too easy, while Medium can be just right, until you get constantly hit by attacks and losing first place just as you’re about to cross the finish line due to a missile or bomb someone fired at you.

In terms of controls, this is a typical kart racer and if you have played the original, the steering may feel a bit off at first, but after a few laps, you will adjust. Each track’s goal is of course to come first, and on the tracks are boxes that you hit to get a power up. These can either be offensive or defensive items, to help you knock down other racers and get ahead. These range from explosive boxes left on the track, to tracking missiles, to an item that slows everyone down.

The main aspect that this game differs from something like Mario Kart is the power sliding mechanic. As you drift, you can press a button at the right moment to get a boost in speed. Do this successfully three times in a row in one drift and you get a bigger burst of sustain speed. Similarly, if you hop / jump from high enough and stay long enough in the air, you’ll get a speed boost when you land. It is like Mario Kart but puts enough of its own twist into it so that it feels unique. All the tracks are designed around the power sliding mechanic.

The story within Adventure Mode is simple. Alien Nitros Oxide has come to Crash’s planet with the intention of taking over. However, he is kind enough to give the planet a fighting chance. Find the speediest racer and they’ll race each other. If Oxide wins, he gets the planet, otherwise he’ll leave. It is a short and simple story, but it gives a good enough reason for what you are doing. You select a character, and you can either use the same character throughout the whole mode or swap it as you wish.

The structure of Adventure Mode is very simple too. There are four hub worlds of four tracks each, and you need to get first in each one. Every hub world has a boss, and this remake adds in cutscenes when you face the bosses, and they themselves have dialogue. So, it’s both interesting and weird when you hear them speaking for the first time. Boss levels take place in the same tracks, but they have special power up abilities which can become difficult. Perhaps it is how the game is structured, being focused on levels, but you are constantly loading a track which takes thirty seconds each time. That feels long in a time where a lot of games use various techniques to mask load times.

Given that there are only sixteen story tracks and five bosses, you reach the ending very soon at only around two hours (depending on how good you are). However, whenever you finish a track, it unlocks two other objectives in that track. The first are Time Relics, which you lap the track three times and get the lowest time but with the twist that there are boxes scattered on the track that freezes the clock. The other is CTR challenge, where you still need to get first, but in the process, you need to find and collect the three letters “C”, “T” and “R”, as well. This can be a challenge on higher difficulty. Each hub world also has a level where it is set in the battle mode maps (basically a wide-open area) and you need to collect twenty crystals scattered in the level in a set time, one of which is particularly tough.

Completing enough of the CTR challenges will unlock the Grand Prixes, where you do four tracks back-to-back and aim to get the highest score at the end of it. This further unlocks two bonus tracks, and then a final showdown against Oxide for the true ending. All in all, yes, there is a decent amount of content, even if it doesn’t take too many more hours to complete it, and it can get repetitive because you will need to play each track a minimum of four times, with some requiring five or six times. This isn’t counting if you need to replay tracks if you didn’t succeed the first time.

Like with the N. Sane Trilogy, you’ll be impressed with how much the graphics are improved at first glance. It blows you away with how much of a massive upgrade this is over the original. The nice colorful graphics really make the game pop. The only negative is that with all the added details, some of the tracks are a bit busy which can distract you and when you first play a track, you might not be able to immediately identify corners properly.

As mentioned, while they managed to include the story mode of the original Crash Team Racing, they didn’t for Nitro Kart. We do get the next best thing though, which is every single track from that game remade. Coupled with quite a few free DLC tracks which are completely new and original, and this is a meaty game with something like forty tracks to choose from. That said, while the Nitro Kart tracks are nice, they do feel different to the originals in that they trend towards being gimmicky at times. The tracks have even more distracting things in the background, designs can be iffy, and they have a lot of obstacles that end up being annoying rather than engaging.

After you’re done with Adventure Mode, there are a lot more modes to choose from that you can either play locally or online. For example, Battle Mode has you pitting against each other in a wide-open map in modes like death match and capture the flag. Time Trials has you aiming to get the fastest speed in a track, and then there’s the already mentioned CTR challenges and Relic races. These modes are available on even the Nitro Kart tracks. There is also a new mode called Ring Rally, where you go through rings that boosts your speed and adds to the clock that’s ticking down, so you aim to survive as long as possible.

And finally, the game has a ton of customization options for your racers and karts. Not much is available from the beginning but via playing the game, you will earn in-game currency. This currency can be used in the in-game shop to purchase customization options such as new playable characters, kart designs, stickers and decals. To be honest, it’s fairly tame as far as monetization goes.

Overall, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled is a fantastic update and remake of the original two games. It is on par if not better than N. Sane Trilogy’s efforts. The fact that they included all the tracks from Nitro Kart is a plus and something that the developers didn’t really have to do. If they could have included the story mode from Nitro Kart as well that would have been perfect, but the game is already very good as is.

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