"What if instead of the boxes giving the cars power-ups directly, they merely open up when hit, revealing the power-ups for the next car to collect."
This is a genius idea. Has this never been done before?
The game is too fast and the screen is too small to actually see what is happening. Even the mines often come as a surprise.
The latest iteration, (in Survival mode) I experimented with giving everyone a missile every 20 seconds. This gives AI a chance.
I've also improved the AI a bit to let it follow a better racing line and to prioritize speed pads, dodge mines.