This post was last updated on March 13th, 2022 at 09:25 pm
Lionel Mega Tracks Corkscrew Chaos comes from a 116-year-old company that knows all about tracks. Lionel may be best known for their railroad tracks, but Mega Tracks moved them into a completely new and exciting dimension.
Corkscrew Chaos is a zany, wacky mix of car racing and roller coasting all done by remote control. It's not proper racing, though, as only one car runs along the mega tracks. And it's not a car as the remote control vehicle runs on a track.
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What is Lionel Mega Tracks?
Mega Tracks is a flexible track system on which you clip a car and send it around the track by remote control. The vehicle has a locking system that locks it onto the track. This system enables it to run horizontally, vertically, diagonally, and even inverted - whichever way the kids design the track - without falling off.
Of course, the vehicle will come off the track if speeds are too fast in some turns. That is where the skill comes in. Kids learn that to get round in the fastest time without falling off means knowing where to ease off the power and where to give it full grunt!
The Track
You can customize your track design any way you want. The track can be bent and twisted into all manner of shapes and loops - the exciting bit.
Kids join track pieces together with connectors that slide onto the track sections and lock in place.
TwisTrack - Bend and loop the track as much as you want!
The whole track layout is held in position by structure rods, clamps, and connectors. The assembly instructions show how these go together.
You can assemble the TwisTrack almost anywhere - put it on the floor or furniture or even in a hand-held configuration. If it's going on to furniture, though, make sure it's not going to scratch the surfaces.
Lionel Mega Tracks is for kids aged 8 to 11. Kids at the younger end of this range may need adult help setting up a layout - at least initially. There are many pieces in this set, and even with the assembly instructions included, younger children could take a little while to get used to it all.
Once they know how it all goes together, they'll enjoy experimenting with new gravity-defying layouts and stunts all by themselves.
Your first layout should be one of those recommended for beginners, just so you get used to how all the pieces go together. The track suggested in the instructions takes about half an hour to assemble.Kids can then design tracks themselves and create amazing stunts. It's a case of Over - Under - Sideways - Down when it comes to track design.
As Lionel themselves say: 'If You Can Imagine It - You Can Build It.'
The Vehicle Chassis
The vehicle - let's call it a car - clips onto the track anywhere. You press on the chassis base to widen the lengthwise slot that enables the car to fit on the track; release it, and the car clamps itself into place. Easy peasy!
Rechargeable batteries power the car and give about 25 minutes of runtime on a full charge. A recharge then takes about 50 minutes - that's reasonable.
The car has either a red or a green body. These denote the different frequencies on which the vehicles are operating. If you are using two cars on separate adjacent tracks, they must be of different frequencies, or the signal from one or other remote controllers will interfere with the other vehicle.
The RC Controller
The Mega Tracks RC Controller is a hand-held, pistol-grip design, so it should be easy for anyone to use to moderate the speed of their car.
You can fit a smartphone to the top of the speed controller and take videos of your car.
The controller needs a 9 volt battery which you will have to buy separately, so don't forget to buy a battery for the Mega Tracks if you're giving this as a gift to someone.
Lionel Mega Tracks at a glance
If there is any downside to Lionel Mega Tracks it is that only one child at a time can play it. Unless you have two separate tracks set up, that is.
And while some customers have said that it is not a racing setup as only one car is used on the track, kids can still race against the clock and aim for the fastest lap times. See how fast they can do ten laps of the circuit, for example.
It's a skill-based toy and is as much a building toy as a racing toy with all the possibilities with layout design. The only limitations to Lionel Mega Tracks are in the user's imagination.
To get the most out of Lionel Mega Tracks, you will find it helpful to buy a track expansion pack or Stunt Pack as they call them, in addition to the Master Set. More track gives the kids a lot more flexibility to build an outstanding layout.
Mega Tracks will provide hours of fun and stimulate kids imaginations. Assuming they can get the controller away from dad, that is!