80s Overdrive

"80'S OVERDRIVE is a 2D pixel art racing game, designed to take you back in time to when 8 and 16 bit consoles and arcade games ruled the world. Compete against opponents in career mode to unlock new races, buy new cars, and upgrade them with state-of-the-art technologies! Try your skill in time attack mode and see how far you can get in this race against the clock! Create your own tracks with built-in track generator and easily share them with your friends!"

Arcade racing game in the style of outrun with gameplay modelled on Lamborghini American challenge (Crazy Cars III). The game has an 80s neon aesthetic and includes multiple 80s synth style music tracks. The game has two modes. The main challenge mode shown in the video and a second Time Trial mode which is a more arcade outrun like a survival run where you drive as long as possible against the clock with branching paths to take you to different areas. Its not endless but its very long, maybe a 30 minute ride if you can get through it. You can gain extra time by driving close to other with a near miss overtake.

I really wanted to like this game but it doesn't take long for frustration to set in. Pretty much the whole time you are faced with an aggressive ai which will fight you all the way to the line. Should you crash you may as well hit restart as you can never catch up. There is an upgrade system to try and keep your car one step ahead of the rest but these parts are costly and the race winnings are miserly so some re-racing may be required to earn enough to upgrade and progress. On top of that, should you dare to get up close and personal with other cars, you will gain damage requiring a very costly repair should it be left to build up. Eventually you will gain enough cash to buy a newer car but know that doing so is like dialling up the games difficulty a notch and the ai cars receive an equal upgrade. I think it may actually be better to upgrade a car and keep it going as long as possible.

Some races with feature an optional mission for a sizable reward. This could be as simple as collecting items along the road or a request to throw the race. The most challenging is to end on a specific position as all the ai cars cross the line at the same time. Most races will features cops to annoy you by ramming in the hope of slowing you down or crashing and arresting you. They never go after the ai opponents though which is frustrating. You can have a couple of nitro boosts to get you of a jam but on harder late game tracks its best to hold on to them and try to steal the win as you approach the line.

Overall, I think the game is too long and frustrating at times. I like the setting though and the music is good and helps to remind you that your playing an arcade game set in times past. The game mostly controls alright but in the late game, there are some tight turns requiring you to slow right down in order to get round which the ai opponents seemingly have no issue with. Also when you can finally afford the final (best?) car, it feels un rewarding as its no faster than the previous and those last races are quite challenging. Unlocking the actual final car though, which is pointless for challenge mode will likely get you along way in time trial mode.