Tomy Battle Deck Mega Raceway

Approx. price: £29.99

Age range: 6+

ToyTalk Awards Winner: Toy Cars

Website: www.tomy.co.uk

It takes a lot for a new toy car to stand out from the crowd, but Tomy has achieved this difficult feat with its new Battle Deck line.

Part collectible craze, part racing game, Battle Deck combines these elements into an engrossing product that really engages children’s attention.

The concept is simple. A selection of cars can be raced on various track layouts, with each car armed with rather vicious-looking front bumpers. When the cars collide on the track, the relative strengths of the cars will determine which ploughs through its opponent and which is stopped dead in its tracks.

Each car is rated for speed, defensive capabilities and offensive power and this is where things get interesting, because each car can be split into three separate components, each representing one of those categories.

You can then mix sections of different cars together to try and build a more formidable hybrid. Adding extra speed may compensate for lower chassis strength, while a strong bumper section and heavy chassis could give you a powerful brute that’s very difficult to knock out of the way.

Switching sections is surprisingly easy using the clever section-stacking system and the challenge of improving upon your designs is absorbing.

The Mega Raceway set we looked at can be put together in a number of combinations. Instructions are included and you can also create your own layouts. The track is designed to bring the cars together at certain hot spots and this works well. The pull-back engines on each car are powerful and two or more laps of the full track are possible, so if your cars miss on the first pass they can simply go round again for another try.

With the combat element happening at a fast and furious pace, and with the defeated car often hurled right off the track, there is plenty for youngsters to get excited about.

The one downside of the Mega Raceway track is that it is fiddly to assemble. Although the track pieces snap together fairly firmly, elevated sections simply sit on plastic struts, rather than snapping onto them to form a strong support.

This means that the track can be easily knocked over, especially when excited children are jumping around to get at cars that have been knocked off the track.

Sticking to track layouts that do not have elevated sections is one way to avoid this, but that takes some of the fun away and adults should be prepared for frequent requests to rebuild a demolished track section.

This aside, Battle Deck is a really entertaining racing game, with tough, feisty cars that are only too willing to hurl themselves into oblivion at your command – and with extra cars priced around £4.99 each, it isn’t too expensive to add to your arsenal.

Durability: 4/5
Longevity: 4/5
Value: 5/5
Score: 90%
Conclusion: A great racing game with the added attraction of collectible cars.