Out of all the newer 2016 Track Builder Releases, this in my opinion, is the best! There are multiple ways of setting up various layouts which the manual suggests, and good variety of pieces, though straight track are lacking as usual. The star of this show is no doubt, the duel booster! It's very "next gen-ish", as it looks nothing like boosters that have been around forever. What makes it unique is the way it is set up. There's your usual battery-eating power brick (this uses 4 D cells), but both boosters are independent from the power source. They simply plug in to the battery block, so you can place them away from each other, giving your layout twice the power to shoot your cars around. You don't have to use both boosters, but why wouldn't you? What's more interesting is, the booster's rollers are now vertical, instead of horizontal. When a HW car enters, a single rubber roller grips it from above and launches it out, and both boosters pack a punch! I only wish the connecting cords could have been longer, as you can't place the boosters too far way from each other. The white support towers are one of the newer pieces found in this series, as they can be placed horizontally or vertically to support tracks. Each tower offers a number of node connections, so tracks can be connected at various heights using the pivot points. The pivot points are brilliant little button-like gizmos that slide easily slide into any track. Now when you snap your track into any of the towers, you can actually rotate and angle your track with much freedom. All in all, it's a very roller coaster-style approach to track building, and a good one at that. As far as the layouts go, there are a few duel shoot outs as in...gravity drop to booster, through loop, then off to space (hopefully, a carpeted one). These are short lived, 2 second runs but kids will have fun launching their cars simultaneously (this set only comes with one car of course). One interest layout features a continuous run where both boosters work together to continuously shoot your cars through a figure 8 course. Cars zoom around and eventually crash, so it becomes a survivor game. The sample courses won't hold a child's attention for long periods, but they can experiment on their own, and combine the pieces with other sets. And finally, the box. The new, thicker cardboard box also doubles up as an extra stunt accessory. Perforated cut outs allow tracks to be integrated for even more variety. If your kid rather keep the box, then get ready for a shock: You can actually fit all the pieces back in the box for storage. I know, right? Overall, this is example of Mattel heading in the right direction.
