Q-Games has seen quite a bit of success from the PixelJunk series on the PlayStation Network. The first game in the set, Racers, sat alone untouched for the past few years on the PlayStation Store while newer, bigger titles flourished with updates and expansion packs. No longer relegated to sitting alone in a corner, PixelJunk Racers 2nd Lap takes the original formula, tweaks it up a bit, adds some new flair, and tries to entice you to hop in. So, is it worth checking out? Read on to find out.

PixelJunk Racers 2nd Lap is, at is core, the same game that was released back in 2007. You fire up slot cars around a few tracks to accomplish various goals while trying not to crash too many times. Many of the game modes are less about crossing the finish line ahead of competition as much as they are about whacky accomplishments. You’ll have to stay in circular zones for a certain period of time to blow up rival cars, inflate yourself like a hot air balloon and see how far you can travel before running out of gas, pass enough cars to turn into a bullet to crash through opponents, or even sit back and patiently weave your way through slow traffic. Some of the modes are fun, but most won’t keep you entertained for too long. You can play them all yourself in Solo Tournament or take on up to 7 friends locally in Quick Race. You’ll need to unlock each of the modes in single player first, so keep that in mind. One of the new modes, and most entertaining, in my opinion, is Ghost Attack. You can take on the global leaderboards to race the ghost cars of some of the best in the world, trying to beat their time. You aren’t actually racing online, just against ghost times, which adds a bit of replayability, but ultimately the game suffers from a few missed opportunities.

The biggest gripe I have with PixelJunk Racers 2nd Lap is the lack of true online multiplayer. Having gone back to the well to retool the game after a few years, it seems like Q-Games didn’t put in much effort. The Ghost Attack mode is nice, but it would have been even nicer to actually race someone online. The other issue is repetition and boredom. You won’t want to play many of the game modes more than once and quite a few times during my play for review, I thought to myself “Why am I still even playing this?” I wanted to put the controller down and walk away on a number of occasions. It all just feels like a missed opportunity and a release intended to grab a few extra dollars.

While they did tone down the original’s murderous AI, they didn’t do much to bring in new players. Being a free update for previous owners, it’s a no brainer to download the expansion. But if you’re new to the game, it’s very hard to recommend spending $6.99 on 2nd Lap. There are other PixelJunk games out there that are much much better (Monsters, Eden and Shooter are all fantastic). Use your hard earned ducats to grab one of those instead.

[A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for review purposes.]