It's a gun that shoot cars, damn it!!!
A few months ago we reviewed a couple of blaster sets from the new Nerf Nitro range: guns that literally shoot cars, Like, as their ammo. We had a butt-load of fun with those spring-loaded toys, but now we're stepping it up a level. Checking out a motorised, multi-shot blaster, we review the Nerf Nitro AeroFury Ramp Rage.
To look at it, the Nerf Nitro AeroFury Ramp Rage seems to be almost identical, barring the paint job, to the Nitro Longshot Smash. It is a one-handed blaster that ships with a couple of the Nitro cars (more on those later) and a bright green ramp. However, while you had to manually cock the Longshot (and the DuelFury blasters, too), the AeroFury relies on a battery-powered flywheel to launch the cars, just like with a normal motorised Nerf gun, like the Elite Hyperfire.
Load the two included Nitro cars into the slot on the rear of the blaster, press down on the grip to activate the flywheel rev trigger, then squeeze the trigger to release a car. One car will then slide down the chute, be caught by the spinning flywheel, and blasted out at quite an impressive speed. Uniquely, the trigger might release one car, but it then holds the one behind it in place, meaning only one can slip down and be fired at once. This gives you a chance to line up your second shot better, if your first missed. So, just like many flywheel Nerf blasters, the AeroFury Ramp Rage is semi-auto.
Pushing down on the base of the grip feels very natural, and not too much pressure is needed to get that motor revving up. The trigger itself is quite tough, however, and we found that our younger testers had some bother squeezing it. Hasbro has this blaster aimed at five years and up - younger than their conventional dart shooting blasters - but the trigger was definitely stiffer than some 'bigger kid' stuff from Nerf. Hopefully that will soften over use, but it is something to be wary of.
Apart from that, the Nerf Nitro AeroFury Ramp Rage performed far better in terms of range and speed than the other Nitro toys we've tested, and the two-car feed is much more satisfying than having to load each car by hand. If you have other Nitro cars to hand, loading them is quick and easy and you can keep on firing without having to turn off or pick up the blaster.
Speaking of the cars, the Nerf Nitro AeroFury Ramp Rage comes with two. Although the shapes are very similar, if not identical, to ones we've seen before, these have cool camo-colouring. That makes them stand out more when you're searching for them, which is very handy considering they will spend much of their life behind the sofa. As with the other cars we've tested, these new ones are spongy, tough, and with nice and loose wheels to help with speed. Combined with the included ramp, a lot of crazy fun can be had with these.
So it seems that adding a motorised flywheel into a Nitro play set only serves to increase the excitement. Better range, increased speeds, and a loading system that is benefited by having more than just the two included cars, makes the Nerf Nitro AeroFury Ramp Rage really stand out.
£24.99
Available from www.amazon.co.uk
