GT Racing 1980

[h1] GT Racing 1980 has a pumping retro soundtrack and decent enough visuals but the handling of the cars and the flow of the game are what ruins the experience. [/h1] GT Racing 1980 is a retro arcade racer based upon the top-down racing games of the 80’s and 90’s but supposedly with real car physics to give it a deeper driving experience. So, is this meant to be a sim experience within an arcade shell? I guess that was what the developer was going for but it left me frustrated and disappointed because I wanted a purely arcade experience and that’s not what I got. The game has decent presentation with a really nice entrance tune, and the music throughout the game is catchy and uplifts the experience. The visuals are okay. Perfectly acceptable for a retro arcade racer but they can look better on some tracks than others. There’s a fair amount of content with a free practice option, a career mode with three divisions, rivals, invitationals, and a two-player mode where you can race in split screen. There’s also a hidden mode called GYM but I didn’t uncover this. The game has some nice features but overall, it is let down by the car handling and the upgrade system which becomes quite grindy making the game frustrating and unpleasant to play. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3371967880 The game revolves around prize money, and you can earn this from almost any mode. The problem with this progression system is that the career mode, which is the main draw of the game, has a terrible flow to it and at the start of a division it is very difficult to win events because your car has no upgrades, and you need to win events to earn decent money to upgrade your car so that it can compete. This means you have to enter other disciplines like time attack and invitationals to earn low level prize money to be able to upgrade your car and get to the level of the other racers. This takes a while because upgrades get more expensive as you get better cars and enter higher divisions, and the upgrades double in price as you upgrade. Even though the time attack mode is absurdly easy to win first place, even when you crash five times on a short lap, it still takes a while to fill the coffers. It’s not even a case of slogging through the division, picking up fourth or fifth places where you can, and repeating the division until you have enough money to upgrade, because you only get prize money for a podium finish, and the handling is either really bad or purely based on sim racing, so I was lucky to finish a race, let alone get placed on the podium. As soon as you try and go around any corner at speed the car will spin out and the only way I successfully navigated any corner was to slow down considerably and watch all my competitors overtake me. There is no drifting in this game at all, only cornering carefully, and your car has absolutely no weight to it all so if you are nudged just very slightly, you will spin out, and it takes forever to get your car back on the track. I found myself restarting race after race after race because I kept spinning out just from going around a corner and it would be impossible to catch anyone up after a spin. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3371959506 The career mode was quite enjoyable in the starting division. I found it quite easy to fully upgrade my car with the prize money on offer and it was okay to race, with minimal spin outs on corners, just the odd wobble, but as soon as you start division two this is where better cars and more horsepower cause spin outs and I just found it impossible to drive. I don’t play sim games because of reasons like this. I much prefer drifting round corners at top speed in an arcade fashion and you just cannot do this in GT Racing. Even if you can afford an update, and select to update grip, which has two categories, front grip and rear grip, it doesn’t make much difference until you upgrade it a few times, yet the upgrades get so damn expensive, that you need to be prepared to race lots of other races to earn prize money. Therefore, I found myself at an impasse and didn’t have the motivation to continue. I think the progression model needs rethinking. I would be interested to see what others think. The car felt like it was going too slow. I don’t know if this is a symptom of sim racing but I didn’t feel excited as I drove around, and slowing down for the corners made it even worse. I was surprised that going that slow would cause the car to spin out on corners but it almost always did until the car was upgraded. I wouldn’t expect a car, even with no upgrades, to spin out like that. It literally felt like someone had poured oil on the track. It felt very frustrating. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3371969211 The menus are a bit annoying as it is very difficult to see where the cursor or active area is, and you have to move your gamepad a few times just so you can catch the movement and know where you are. This makes navigating the menus problematic. The garage, where you can buy and upgrade cars, is hidden and I had difficulty finding it when I wanted it, but I later discovered that pressing the back button on the menu takes you there. Just put a garage icon on the menu please. [h1]🍳Conclusion🍳[/h1] [quote][h2][b]GT Racing 1980 [/b] is a sim racer in an arcade shell. Behind the arcade façade, retro tunes, and 80s aesthetic, lies a racer where cornering is very difficult at any kind of speed and you will continually spin out unless you are very careful. Something the other cars don’t seem to have problems with. Upgrades are very expensive to buy meaning it is difficult to compete initially, and difficult to earn enough money to buy those upgrades without a lot of grinding for little reward. If you enjoy sim racing and the fact it is presented in a retro bubble interests you, then check it out, but if you enjoy arcade racing then I would give this one a miss. To be fair, the devs have put a lot of time into upgrades recently so maybe some of these issues can be ironed out. [/h2][/quote] Curator Info: [quote]Thank you for reading my review. If you enjoyed it, please follow[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/] [b]IndieGems[/b] [/url] for more reviews like this one. We also have a [url=https://www.youtube.com/@IndieGems2][b]YouTube channel[/b][/url] if you would rather see game play footage with reviews. [/quote]

There's the backbone of a reasonable little game here, but not enough to keep you playing for two hours in all likelihood. The initial VW Golf clone is very easy to drive and cheap to upgrade to a level whereby it can win the division 3 title.....then the next cars cost and upgrade costs (not to mention comedy RWD physics) kick in......also, once you win Div3 you can never go back and repeat it for easy money to upgrade your next car, so you'll be stuck getting your behind handed to you on a plate to grind out the upgrade cash required. Wait till the game is polished, and even then look at other options. (ALSO - take note of the number of single review recommendations for this game - something stinks there).

It's not fun, to few options in the screensetup that is a mess cause you can't read your position easy. Steering is bad, even with camera behind (however this is also very strange) cause the car is not stable. The AI is very bad, they push you from the track while a little bit later they stop racing. Graphics are not that bad but also not good due to the interface and grain filter. The camera distance is fixed and to high. The soundtrack is anoying bad. There are a lot other much better racing games like this : Superwoden GP2, Rush Rally Origins, Art Rally, StarDrift Evolution, Ultimatev Racing 2D 2, circuit superstars!

10 Racing / 10 Racers Amazing top down racing game in a classic retro style!

GT Racing 1980 offers a nostalgic top-down racing experience where you drive cars inspired by the 80s, upgrade them, and compete through three divisions to become champion. You face off against rivals, join invitational challenges, and unlock special rewards and liveries as you improve. The free practice, time attack, and split-screen modes give you space to fine-tune your skill. A fun ride overall. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrQJTMr6nwc

I don't really know what's going on. The loading times are crazy long, down to making it unplayable. I am unable to proceed past the first race due to this. The character art looks completely AI. The visualization of the game is pretty, but since I can't get beyond the first trial lap, I have no option but to refund this.

"GT Racing 1980" is a solid, action-packed retro arcade racer heavily inspired by the top-down racing games of the 80s and 90s. Combining a stylish retro aesthetic with a pumping soundtrack, the game is ideal for quick, pick-up-and-play races. The game features a top-down perspective as you master classic race tracks. The controls take some getting used to, focusing on an arcade-style implementation designed to help you find your optimal flow. A wide variety of tracks and lovingly crafted vehicle models ensure plenty of variety. Solid graphics—featuring stylish backgrounds, detailed menus, and stable performance that renders even rapid camera movements smoothly—round out the package. The driving synth-heavy, retro soundtrack perfectly underscores the classic 80s flair. It offers tremendous fun for short gaming sessions, boasts a great soundtrack, and delivers a genuine dose of nostalgia. However, the vehicle handling might not be to everyone's taste and can become somewhat frustrating when precise maneuvers are required. Recommended for anyone who enjoys this style of racing game.

Very enjoyable game. Loved the gameplay and the graphics. Lots of content to work through and lots of fun upgrading the car and working through the different tracks.

One of the worst games ever!! Too much nonsense dialogue and chaotic UI menu behavior. Not even worth $0.5. Play "Little Racers STREET" instead!!!

I'm a big fan of games like this - but usually on console. It's a very enjoyable arcade racing blast. The retro look is really cool and so is the soundtrack. I enjoyed the league mode where you play against lots of great nostalgic characters. There's also one off races against your rivals and neat invitational races. The cars get tougher to drive as you progress and the game gets so much faster. Definitely lots to keep you going. I'd recommend it, especially for the price.