It's cool as a technological achievement and as a precursor to Mario Kart but I feel like that's really all it is to me. Usually I can see the appeal of a given game I play for someone else, even if I don't enjoy it all that much, but this game I just fail to see what's exciting about it other than looking nice for the times. It's all about the visual spectacle of a 3D-looking game running on Famicom. Like, yes, it's pretty, but to me at least, the gameplay just feels like a lot of boring turns and straight driving, and it seems this concept was just generally held back by the limitations of the system at the time.
Anyways, scratch all that.. Nintendo of America told the director of the game the cars were too cute or something so it wouldn't sell there. That's the real problem with this game: the cars are just too damn cute. I couldn't focus on my driving at all because I kept having to put down the controller to clasp my hands together and go "Awwwww..."
That's exactly why the director, enraged by this insinuation, and players crashing over and over at the sight of these adorable automobiles, went on to make F-Zero for the Super Famicom... a much more punishing (and exciting) racer. In every sense of the word, I think this game was just a stepping stone for the future... and I see no reason to ever come back to this one unless you're digging through the archives to dust off some video game history like I am.
Sorry, 3D Hot Rally. That is your legacy to me: a fleeting curiosity that has been long since outclassed. At least you got a banger remix in Smash, though.