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Back in 2025, I did a review for a game called PAW Patrol World; a game I said I was pleasantly surprised by and actually really enjoyed playing, giving it a 4/5 score. Since then, I’ve been on the lookout for other games based on this show, hoping to have maybe another surprise and hopefully find a children’s game that anyone, regardless of age, could enjoy. Which is when I heard about Paw Patrol Rescue Wheels: Championship and I got, admittedly, a little excited. As a fan of racers since the N64 golden years of Mario Kart 64, Diddy Kong Racing (which I wish Nintendo would do a new entry for), and the Rush games (another series I wish would make a comeback), I was looking forward to checking this out and hoping this would be another great kids game. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case as this turned out to be just an average racing game that really doesn’t do anything new and, sadly, feels like a step down from Paw Patrol World.
“Gentlemen, start your engines!”
Right out of the starting line, I have to say I was impressed with the selection of characters on offer. The main cast of Paw Patrols are here, of course, sans Everett and Tracker, but you also get Ryder, Mayor Humdinger, and two new Paw Patrol members: Roxi and Boomer, both of which are Monster Truckers and, I gotta admit, I like their designs. Boomer in particular with his leather rebel look and his ferret pal Frank. But, despite the cast of characters, there really isn’t anything different between all of them, outside of their special trick, which I’ll touch on later, and what they drive. So, if you’re thinking Rubble will be slower and Skye will be faster, then you’ll be disappointed. I get it’s a game made for kids so deep stats won’t be included as that would possibly confuse younger players, but you’d think there’d be at least some minor differences between the characters, outside of voice lines and vehicles. Like, maybe, a brief description along the lines of “Rubble takes a bit to pick up speed” or “Skye loves flying faster than everyone but has trouble keeping her vehicle under control at such speeds”. Actually, regarding the voice lines, I did notice Chase has a new voice actor that makes him seem slightly older than he is. I don’t know if that was intended or that’s how it is in the show as I haven’t paid much attention to the actual series, but it was something I noticed, so if you’re used to his younger voice, then prepare for a bit of a shock. Personally, I just felt that maybe it was to show Chase was growing up and the new voice actor was their way of doing it.
As for the actual racing itself, this is where the slight twinge of disappointment started to seep in and I’m going to cut straight to the chase: This is, quite frankly, the most generic racer I’ve ever played. I don’t mean that in a negative way but more in a “Wow, this is kinda disappointing” way. Now, let me clarify that I did have some fun with the game and the controls aren’t the worst. In fact, truth be told, I didn’t mind the more simplistic controls and felt they got the job done. I do have to give the game props for its inclusion of options for auto-driving and auto-tricks, which is a nice idea. Still, if you’re expecting to be pulling off some mad Tokyo drifting all over the place, though it is here but designed to be easier to handle, then you may be disappointed. No, at the end of the day, you’ll just be racing around simple tracks and that’s pretty much it. Yes, there are items to pick up to give you an advantage, like a UFO that can stop the leading player in their tracks and pies you can shoot, but you can honestly ignore them unless you’re playing against other human opponents or at the higher difficulty levels, which the three on offer are still pretty fair to play. If anything, the only interesting thing about the racing itself is the Trick system. As you’re racing, you can press a button and your car will do some small tricks to build up a meter that, when full and you hit a ramp, you can pull off a special trick that gives you a slight boost of speed. A novel idea and is very useful, though I did find some of the animations to be slightly confusing. Where the issues really started to come in are with the track layouts themselves. They’re not bad by any means of the definition, they just feel poorly designed at parts. A few tracks have a boost ramp situated in such a way that you’re almost guaranteed to fly out of the track and have to respawn in by holding the Y button on the Xbox, which is nice and all. The rest of the tracks on offer range from OK to a bit boring but, again, nothing that really screams bad. I will say the textures are a bit on the simplistic side but it does kind of fit the world and the artstyle of Paw Patrol on a whole, so I can let that slide. Animation wise, however, is a whole ‘nother kettle of fish. They’re not bad, just very poor and too simplistic. During every race, the characters do not even emote, let alone have any actual animations, and during the podium scene? They all share the same animations, which is both jarring and a bit creepy. I know it’s a game made for kids, but I’ve seen and played other kids games that have more unique animations than this title. Speaking of animations, the actual driving is hit or miss. While the vehicles feel like they all have some actual weight behind them, driving them just feels a bit off, especially when turning. It doesn’t feel floaty or anything, but it just doesn’t feel right, even when doing a drift which is pretty tricky to do. For some reason, when you hit the drift button and you’re turning in one direction or the other, your car instantly snaps to that direction, which messed me up a few times during the main races. But surprisingly? I didn’t notice this when doing the sole minigame, where you have to collect more treats than the other players. For some reason, the drifting controls feel better here than in the actual racing itself. Yes, turning was still slightly cumbersome, but everything worked better here, oddly enough, so why they felt off in the racing itself, I have no idea. Something else I noticed was the camera was kinda buggy during the race at certain intervals where it would suddenly become all jerky and stuff. I don’t know what was causing it but, for some reason, the camera did very quick zoom ins and outs to the vehicle during turns on some maps.
“It’s a white knuckle ride! I love leaving y’all behind!”
When it comes to the overall sound quality, this is another area where I’m mixed on. While the overall voice acting is decent, despite Chase having a seemingly older voice, I will admit it does get slightly annoying hearing EVERYONE talking ALL THE TIME during a race, no matter what you’re doing. Doesn’t help that the mixing seems to make the voices overpower the in-game music at times. By the time a race was over, I was truthfully sick of hearing the same three voice clips over and over again. Again, it’s not bad voice acting and it’s not to the levels of Ryder from Paw Patrol World, it just dances on the annoying side, especially when you hear a voice saying everything you highlight on the menus. For kids learning to read or not familiar with some words, the latter I can see being a nice addition but for others, I can see being enough to make you want to mute the game. The same can’t be said for the music which is the polar opposite of the voice acting. While a few tracks do come off as generic rock music, a lot of the music is surprisingly head-bangedly good! Like, I actually felt like head-banging whenever I heard them! You know, it’s funny but I’m reminded a lot of the music in the N64 game Rush: San Francisco Racing, which also had some generic tracks mixed with some headbanging hits. It’s a weird comparison but that’s what it reminded me of.
“I feel the need…the need for speed!”
I know comparing Paw Patrol Rescue Wheels: Championship to Paw Patrol World is pretty silly, they aren’t even the same genre, but the game really does feel like a step down from World, which felt like it had more love and care put into it then this one. Yes, there are some moments of fun to be had in this game and I can see the younger crowd and fans of Paw Patrol enjoying the title, but at the end of the day? This is a pretty bare bones racing game that really brings nothing new to the table and really feels like what many think of when hearing the term ‘Kids Game’. Now, this isn’t a terrible game nor is it a bad game by any means; it’s just a disappointing title and one that’s probably best to wait for a sale before buying or, as of this review, you can download the game on Game Pass if you’re subscribed to it.
