Wheel World

At its best this colourful racer has the power to improve your day.

This flippant, friendly air serves Wheel World well.

Wheel World is an amalgamation of boring races and exploration, poor storytelling, and often clumsy gameplay that never felt great.

Wheel World is a delightfully tactile indie title, and a real celebration of cycling. It feels fantastic to play and it's lovely to look at, but it's held back by a finicky finale and poor performance on PS5. We're hoping that a couple of meaningful post-release patches will address our complaints, because at its core, Wheel World is joyous.

As it is, Wheel World delivers what its premise suggests and that's a relaxing bike ride - nothing more, nothing less.

Wheel World is a triumphant celebration of the bike; a game that understands the culture of cycling. That is something which is long overdue, and you’ll not be left wanting by the open world rides, and highly replayable races, it allows.

Wheel World effectively captures the nuances of cycling and turns them into decent entertainment.

Wheel World is an enjoyable enough game that gets right to the point of riding a bike and saving the world. The cycling challenges and narrative require nothing but a desire to work away at customising your bike to best go up and down hills, slide around corners, and jump ramps. While its creativity and riding mechanics are minimal, its vibe-based world is perfect for a casual player who likes the premise of a bike-based society.

Wheel World is a fun, summery game that allows for adventure, exploration, and a bit of self-reflection, which can feel almost meditative at times. It was a game I’d been eagerly awaiting for a while, and thankfully, it didn’t disappoint me.

Wheel World proves itself in testing to be a small but exquisite indie gem that pays homage to cycling, peppered with countless terms related to two-wheeled vehicles. The basic story about the demon Skully and the lost parts of his special bike provides a nice framework without becoming too outlandish. Unfortunately, it ends rather abruptly; perhaps there could have been more. The core elements are definitely the exploration of the picturesque open world and the cool races, both of which are very catchy and really fun thanks to the arcade-like gameplay. This is supported by the very well-implemented upgrade mechanics, which really force us to engage with the parts. After all, just like in real cycling, every detail counts if you want to be victorious. Unfortunately, Wheel World sometimes hits a few bumps in the road. These include stuttering during quick changes of direction or when there is a lot of traffic on the track, as well as music that doesn't reload, which is a shame given the atmospheric retro tracks. The playing time of around five to seven hours is manageable, but ensures that the game doesn't become tedious. If the game had been significantly longer, I think I would have gotten a little tired of it without any additional elements. Overall, I personally have very fond memories of Wheel World. I especially enjoyed the races and leisurely cruising through the picturesque landscapes, as well as figuring out the best components for more challenging stages, so despite its technical weaknesses, I can definitely recommend the game to all pedal bike fans.