80's OVERDRIVE
1A loveletter to Outrun
80's Overdrive is a retrostyle 2D pve racing game similar to classics such as Outrun, Tazmania and Top Gear from the 80's/90's. There's around 100 built-in racetracks to race through, 18 music tracks to listen to and a handful of different car models to race with. Plus you get side-missions which give bonus money for completion.
Aside from that there's a built-in level editor which allows you to generate new tracks or import ones via a password system. And finally, there's a time-attack mode that plays like Outrun and similar games. You race along until you run out of time, zones changing every few times with the option to go left/right to a different one at the turnover. If you have played such games before, you definitely want to pick this modern interpretation up asap. But there's a few things you should know. Especially if you never played such games before, or are on the fence otherwise.
The Good
-The game has a killer sountrack. Very 80's, but beautiful.
-Works well with both a controller and k+m.
-The graphics engine is a lot smoother than say ye olde SNES' was.
-Sprite detailing. Sprite animation. Position handling of sprites.
-Missions, Time attack and Level editor add a lot to the core experience.
-Traffic AI is a little less derpy
-Car models look good.
The Bad
-Rubber band AI for your competitors. If you crash, 4-5 will immediately pull past.
-Level editor is limited to changing a few parameters and then generating a track. Unfortunately you cannot mix and match or have more direct control over the track generated.
-Cars boil down to different skins. Fully upgraded cars all have the same max speed, handling and damage cost reduction. This makes collecting all of them a bit moot.
-Only 18 music tracks
-Few racetrack themes. Feels kinda like the devs just locked in a few generated tracks from the editor.
-Time attack mode can get very challenging.
The Verdict
I do recommend this game if you can live with the above merits and demerits. It's relatively inexpensive even at full price and it can be a relaxing game to play. However, it is not perfect and I may have some nostalgia goggles on for this upgraded version of childhood racing games.
Other Videos By BrosiscenPhist
| 2022-11-08 | Spelunky 2 #Mossmouth |
| 2022-10-25 | Fishing North Atlantic :) |
| 2022-08-26 | Billion Road |
| 2022-08-02 | ULTRA NINJA SOUL |
| 2022-07-19 | Autobahn Police Simulator |
| 2022-04-26 | Noch |
| 2022-04-16 | Alien Isolation |
| 2022-02-08 | AdVenture Capitalist |
| 2022-02-07 | Action Arcade Wrestling |
| 2022-02-05 | Super Arcade Football |
| 2022-02-04 | 80's OVERDRIVE |