Amazing.
This is amazing, but with only a few tiny gameplay flaws:
The turns are, well, pretty unmanagable. They're good and all, but holding down the up key and alternating between left arrow and right arrow gets a little boring after awhile, and all the cars feel the same.
That being said, this is still pretty amazing, and deserves a solid 9/10.
Coastal City
It's too hard...
It's fun, but...
Even after getting very good at this game, I loathe the drift mechanics of this game.
Why? Well first of all, I only played easy drift mode... but I could not control when I counter drift or when I stop drifting. Double tapping the reverse direction only seems to work half the time (and I'm press as fast as I'm capable). Especially on Cherry Mountain (where I cannot get that stupid gold medal... but easily did on the other 2 courses), I found it so annoying that I couldn't stop drifting .2 seconds early and just start another drift in the reverse direction until I was already too far into the next turn.
Plus, the drift physics... they're easily able to be abused. Maybe part of my reason for hating the drift physics is because you can just barely drift around a narrow bend and you will end up accelerating faster (and reaching a higher top speed) than you would normally be able to do. I don't know if this was intended or not... but even with this and the testarossa, I find it near impossible to beat the cherry mountain time.
Speaking of courses, why are the physics so odd when there's an uphill and downhill slope? Drifting seems far different on a hill compared to ground.
Also, Coastal city's... just not right. I'm reminded of stunts for DOS... which isn't a bad thing, but it seems like a really, really random track.
My favorite course is the Neon Good Times... just because the drifting and odd physics actually work for me instead of against me. (Well, except for the jumps down the hill).
There's not much else for me to really say... I mean, ideally, I would want the game to include upgrades and have a more refined driving experience, but stuff like that I feel is a given.
All my nitpicking aside, I did thoroughly enjoy the game. I'm glad to see an arcade racer fan making a game; it shows. Extra points for the 86's drift allowing it to speed up ridiculous amounts (assuming that's intentional).
I look forward to a sequel if any... now back to trying to get that gold Cherry Mountain medal.
Thanks for the detailed review, I appreciate it. After some practice, I thoroughly recommend the expert drift mode, once you get used to the timing it makes the easy mode seem cumbersome. The easy mode was actually tacked on last minute, in an effort to make the game more accessible to gamers without much driving game experience.
One of the mistakes I made with this game was mainly testing it on people who have played Ridge Racer extensively (the way you initiate drifts is similar, plus the timing for counter steering). And the timing isn't exactly easy, just like early Ridge Racers like RR1/2 and Rage Racer - which does alienate some people.
Oh and yep, the extra speed boost from the AE86 is completely intentional, it allows you to get better times than the Ferrari on at least one of the tracks. If you notice, it starts producing some orange smoke, Mario Kart style to signify the boost ;)
The only thing you've listed that's NOT intentional is the different drifting feel uphill and downhill. It's a result of the physics, and the way gravity affects surface friction/grip etc. Next time I'll do the handling model very differently.
Coastal City was 100% inspired by early Ridge Racer tracks like RR1 and Rage Racer, which are random - as in they literally have a beach section, city section, and mountain section, which is what I love about them. Makes no sense, but it's part of the arcade fun.
I already have my next 3 games planned out, but I'll make another driving game next year, and I'll do it very differently. It'll be more accessible, have more cars to race against, better physics engine, slightly easier courses etc etc. Upgrades too, seeing as they're so popular.
Thanks again for the review, and a tip about drifting, you want to get the timing right so you just hold in the opposite direction to the drift, just enough that you're straightened up by the time you exit the bend. Steer in early-ish, and depending on how sharp the drift is, either don't steer at all, or start counter steering early enough that you belt out of the corner fairly straight. On some corners in Cherry Mountain, I hardly steer at all, the drift kind of takes care of the steering for you, I just make some minor adjustments.
Though having said all that, you're actually better than me on CC and NGT, I'm very surprised you've got those times on easy mode :)
Expert drifts are slightly faster too by the way, when you're trying to get the CM gold ;)
pretty good
it isnt the best racing game ever but, its pretty fun, the graphics are amazing for some of the other stuff ive seen racing wise, so, overall, pretty awesome, 8/10
(^)-.-(^)
Nice, but the pixels get all laggy and glitching.