Codemasters, Big Red Software, Merit Studios, Mindscape, Supersonic Software, Infogrames Sheffield House The team at Codemasters knew the tide was turning. It decided to target nascent racing genres – namely, those ostensibly popular with Brits in the late 90s – such as TOCA Touring Cars and Colin McRae Rally. They were great games, to their credit; the two new franchises retained a thin line between arcade and simulation, which at that point still meant just being a bit more serious with the brake (compared to V3, you actually used the brake button). You could also drive a tank around a volcano in TOCA, which showed the developers’ sense of humour was still under there somewhere. But Codemasters wasn’t done with Micro Machines; the developers were just firing up the JCB to make a nice, deep grave for the series. – and ripped the heart out of Micro Machines Harris, Craig (29 November 2000). "Micro Machines V3 (GBC)". IGN. Ziff Davis . Retrieved 7 November 2020. a b c d e Fielder, Joe (14 January 1998). "Micro Machines V3 Review [date mislabeled as "May 2, 2000"]". GameSpot. CBS Interactive . Retrieved 7 November 2020. But the ever-expanding capabilities of the new hardware – which, to be fair, weren’t even scratched by V3 – presented constantly evolving possibilities for rival game makers, and V3 was soon forgotten in the franchise development frenzy of 1998. The drive to push boundaries forced even Codemasters to temporarily abandon its biggest hit to create completely new games to compete.

Mylonas, Eric "ECM"; Jevons, Dan "Knightmare"; Hodgson, David "Chief Hambleton" (February 1998). "Micro Machines V3 (PS)". GameFan. Vol.6, no.2. Metropolis Media. p.16 . Retrieved 30 March 2021.Gran Turismo’s PlayStation double-header in 1998 and 2000 wasn’t just bad for daft, multiplayer-oriented racing series like Micro Machines – more traditional arcade racers suffered, too. The ever-competing Need for Speed and Test Drive franchises, and even casual yet genuinely enjoyable start-ups like Total Drivin’, were obliterated by the simulation’s success. But it was still worse for lovable intellectual properties like Micro Machines; they’d always survived, even in the face of racing sims gone by (with admittedly poor, procedural graphics). Gran Turismo put an end to that. Codemasters conformed Super Teeter (May 1999). "Micro Machines 64 Turbo". GameFan. Vol.7, no.5. Shinno Media. p.41 . Retrieved 8 November 2020. Yin-Poole, Wesley (14 July 2016). "There's a new Micro Machines!". Eurogamer. Gamer Network . Retrieved 22 July 2016. Four-Eyed Dragon (June 1999). "Micro Machines 64 Turbo". GamePro. No.129. IDG Entertainment. p.108. Archived from the original on 28 September 2004 . Retrieved 8 November 2020.

The 93% review in Mega described Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament as "multi-player fun at its best". [12] See also [ edit ] Micromachines V3 [sic] (GBC)". Consoles + (in French). No.109. February 2001. p.118 . Retrieved 8 November 2020. It was a turning point for the PlayStation: racing, and to a wider extent gaming, really didn’t feel like it was for kids any more. Just a few weeks earlier, I was fannying around on a pool table and flattening my mates with comedy mallets. By the time I’d turned 13, I was racing for cash, selling countless Mazda Demios from Sunday Cup victories just to afford something better than a second-hand Mitsubishi FTO, and painfully scraping through licence tests just to have the privilege of driving something better than a car with a shagged engine that I couldn’t tune because, well, I was 13. Watch The Miniature Mayhem Unfold in the First Micro Machines World Series Gameplay Trailer | Codemasters Blog". blog.codemasters.com . Retrieved 26 April 2007.

Pros

Micro Machines Crosses the Ocean". GameSpot. 1 May 1997. Archived from the original on 5 June 2000 . Retrieved 16 July 2022.