Photo: Rockstar Games & Milestone Srl
The Xbox Adaptive Joystick or Controller and the 8BitDo Lite SE 2.4G Wireless Controller for Xbox are great accessories for people with physical disabilities or other afflictions. The PlayStation Access Controller is designed to do the same thing. While these hardware peripherals are amazing at what they do, game developers could do a lot better with in-game settings.
In addition to these accessories, a software solution could be useful not only for gamers with disabilities, but also for those who have never played games in their lives, such as children or the elderly, people with poor hand-eye coordination, and even elderly gamers who can no longer perform five headshots in 0.1 seconds.
Fortunately, a major fix isn’t that far off in the future, and games like Monster Jam Showdown and Rollerdrome have at least gotten some of it right. Max Payne and Need for Speed: Most Wanted also had it, though it was more of a flashy gameplay mechanic designed to wow rather than help players with accessibility needs.
Have you guessed the answer yet? It's time itself! In video games, “Game Speed” can be just a simple but deceptively ingenious slider. Monster Jam Showdown, a fantastic monster truck game, has a ton of driving assistance options.
The Game Speed slider only works in single player mode and you can set it anywhere between 100% and the default 70%, which can dramatically slow down the game. When I tried it out myself, I couldn't believe how much of an impact a simple feature like this had on my gaming experience.
Photo: autoevolution
Not only did it make things more beautiful with the slow motion, but it also had an unexpected effect on my psyche. In a racing game, you are more or less stressed throughout the race, making sure you do everything you can at maximum speed so as not to lose. And that's awesome; it's part of the competitive process.
But when everything was in “bullet-time”, I felt the usual pressure and anxiety leave my body as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders, as the cliché expression goes. It suddenly occurred to me that this feature could become standard in every racing video game out there, and not only.
Even Grand Theft Auto VI could implement this in some way, making the driving part more accessible, if not the entire third-person experience. After feeling the effects firsthand, I thought it was nothing short of revolutionary.
But Monster Jam Showdown doesn’t stop there. It has even more driving aids that make the game playable with just one finger. Sure, you can set the AI difficulty to low, but turn on Steering Aid, Auto Brake, Accelerator Aid, Assisted Rear Steering, and Drifting Aid and the game plays itself.
You just have to keep one finger on the accelerator button or the trigger on your controller. There's even a Stunt Aid for arenas where you have to score a lot of points. Typically, this wouldn't be an ideal experience if you're competitive and want to race at high speed, but we've already established that that scenario doesn't apply here.
Photo: autoevolution
Think of all the joy and possibilities this feature could bring, ideally in tandem with other aids, to people who can only partially use a controller or not at all. This includes a steering wheel with pedals, a keyboard and mouse, or any of the conventional methods of playing a video game.
Last year, at Geoff Keighley's December 2023 The Game Awards showcase, Forza Motorsport won the award for Innovation in Accessibility in Games. It competed against Diablo IV, Hi-Fi Rush, Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Mortal Kombat 1, and Street Fighter 6.
Monster Jam Showdown may not win Game of the Year in 2024, but it certainly has a good chance of taking home the Accessibility Award. Come to think of it, it might even hold its own for Racing Game of the Year, given that there’s little chance of that in 2024. However, Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown will definitely give it a run for its money.
I recently reviewed Monster Jam Showdown and gave it a fair score of 77 out of 100. Don't take that as a low score or anything. There was nothing wrong with it. It just had a very simple, yet charming, game design that I wasn't crazy about. Some of the soundtrack was horrible and it sounded like a bunch of tuna cans screaming for their lives while stuck in a kitchen grinder, but I really enjoyed it.
I was pleasantly surprised by this gem that reminds me of a dive into the past because it reminded me of those sweet moments of childhood, when I played racing video games without a care in the world, except getting into the top three.
I highly recommend this game to kids and parents for the split-screen functionality and because Monster Jam Showdown is an overall fun and engaging game. The Standard Edition is $50 and you can find it on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X | S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
