0 Mashed

Picture the scene; you have finished your exams, and it’s a glorious summer’s day, you could go outside. Certainly, but you could also gather a friend or two and relax with a good PS2 game. You pick up Mashed, open a window, start chatting and laughing, before to forgetting all about your troubles in its Micro Machines-imitating simplicity. Everything is perfect. On the other hand, however, you could be in outer Siberia, freezing your arse off with nothing to do. Chombomkov, your bearded comrade, passes you Mashed with a smile; why not give it a go? Before you know it, you have forgotten the freezing temperature as you compete with a hairy Russian; sending a homing missile his way before racing him out of the track.

Do you see what we’re getting at, here? Mashed is a great multiplayer game regardless of where you are, or what you are doing. If you are in prison, right now, convicted of manslaughter, then you have probably found a new way of life with Mashed. Good on you, sir! Mashed embodies the magic of those Mega Drive Micro Machines classics, but it modernizes them without any arrogance or pretence. There’s speed, but there’s no subtlety, Mashed is accessible to everyone because the level design is just so easy to memories. In spite of the annoying load times and unoriginal concept, Mashed is a wonderful piece of mindless gaming.