{"id":11232,"date":"2018-03-22T17:24:38","date_gmt":"2018-03-22T17:24:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/?p=11232"},"modified":"2019-08-18T13:12:46","modified_gmt":"2019-08-18T12:12:46","slug":"cosmic-cart-racing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/2018\/03\/22\/cosmic-cart-racing\/","title":{"rendered":"COSMIC CART RACING"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the Texas Pinball Festival 2018<\/a> (TPF), Multimorphic unveiled another new game for their P3<\/sup> pinball platform.\u00a0 This is their second full-featured title after Lexy Lightspeed<\/em>, bringing the current total up to eight separate games. The reveal at TPF was without the typical preparatory hype and bluster. Instead, attendees were greeted with an unexpected over-sized display mimicking design elements from the P3<\/sup>‘s newest title, Cosmic Cart Racing<\/em> (CCR<\/em>).<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Multimorphic stand at the Texas Pinball Festival 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

CCR was announced near the advent of the P3<\/sup> platform along with Lexy Lightspeed<\/em>, but in an effort to diversify the system’s offerings, Mutlimorphic founder, Gerry Stellenberg, released a number of mini games that would appeal to arcade aficionados (ROCs<\/em>), family fun centers with a younger audience (Barnyard<\/em>) and redemption arcades (Cannon Lagoon<\/em>), as well as practice modules designed to help players hone their skills on existing games (Wizard<\/em> and Secret Agent Showdown<\/em>) and mini games designed to showcase and test the new platform’s capabilities (Heads-Up<\/em>).<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The full range of P3<\/sup> titles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Several of those titles mentioned were also loose testing sites meant to prototype features to be used in the full-featured CCR<\/em>. CCR<\/em> is a new physical pinball game themed around outer space pod-racing, with nods to competitive racing games like Mario Kart. While racing games have been attempted in pinball’s past, (Stern’s NASCAR<\/em>, Williams’ Indianapolis 500<\/em>, and Gottlieb’s Mario Andretti<\/em>), there has never been an instance of a pinball title which allows you to track your progress with other racers in real time or link games to effect the other player’s race. Enter CCR<\/em>‘s info screen:<\/p>\n

\"In-race<\/a>
In-race information display<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This tiny area of the P3<\/sup>‘s dynamic LCD playfield provides an astonishing amount of information. Simply by looking at this 2″ x 4\u201d area you can see who is in the lead, who is speeding up, who is slowing down, and who has received a power-up. Oh yes, there are power-ups. At the current version of the game, you can increase your speed via a boost, hinder the other players’ progress by leaving them road blocks, stop other players’ progress with an EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) or obtain a shield that will protect you from other players’ use of the offensive power-ups.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The CCR upper playfield module’s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The playfield itself boasts nine separate shots that include inner and outer loops, scoops, a captive ball, ramps, and the ability to stop, divert, or reverse the path of the ball in a number of different ways. The shots are also laced with nearly 800 individually-controlled color-changing RGB LEDs which direct the player’s shots: green for shots that accelerate your speed in the race against your opponents, white for shots already hit, and a pulsing rainbow of color for areas where players can qualify and collect power-ups.<\/p>\n

\"All<\/a>
All the LEDs are RGB controllable<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The right ramp also has a number of different innovative magnetic functions that I’m about to spoil for you. (You’ve been warned!) The first becomes apparent upon ball launch, when the ball emerges from the playfield’s back panel, cascades back down to the first ring, and is held in place for a color-count of red, yellow, GREEN! At this point the ball is rocketed back up the ramp via a series of ramp magnets:<\/p>\n