Hot Wheels: Rift Rally is a mixed reality R/C car for PS4, PS5, and iPhone

A black remote control car with a tall rakish hump that contains a camera lens.

The collector’s edition of the Chameleon, an R/C car with a first-person view camera that connects to your PlayStation or iPhone. | Image: Velan Studios

Hot Wheels don’t drift. Hot Wheels don’t jump. They don’t have flaming rocket boosters, either, unless you’re playing a video game. But Velan Studios, the company that brought Mario Kart to life with a camera-equipped R/C car for your Nintendo Switch, is about to do the same for Hot Wheels.

For $130, Hot Wheels: Rift Rally gives you a kid-football-size R/C car with a first-person view of your living room on your iPhone, iPad, or PlayStation-connected TV screen — a view the game combines with graphics to create the illusion you’re playing something far more dangerous and exciting.

When I hold down the accelerator button and look at the actual plastic car, it just pokes around doing basic turns. It seems slow! But when I look down at the...