Super Retro GP

[h1]I Regret Buying This[/h1] I picked this up last year as it looked great. There aren't too many indie arcade racing games that look this good, and it's obvious to anyone who's seen Virtua Racing what this solo developer is going for here. Unfortunately, it is a bit crap. As the late, great TotalBiscuit may have noted, Retro Arcade Racers are a desperation genre. There are so few options out there that people will praise any old slop, because the choice is between that or nothing. In brief the problems are… twitchy controls: not steering assistance/smoothing, oversensitive steering, and a poor suspension modelling that will see you skipping from bumps in the road and leaping into the air from collisions. The cars have a variety of stats that vary between models, rendering a lot of them inviable through lack of speed or acceleration, fragility or poor handling. Tracks: there are four, bolstered by reverse and mirrored configurations, so 16 total. Fun bug – when you reset your car on reverse tracks, you respawn facing the wrong way. Lastly, the camera is too low in bumper and cockpit views. The tracks are frequently undulating, and these low viewpoints mean you cannot see ahead. One viewpoint on the desert level even clips through the road surface allowing you to admire your underside. This game comes with a built in defence against criticism - it's Early Access, it's not finished yet. Well it's apparently finished enough to sell for £10, and apparently it's sister project DDI Rally Championship, which is also in Early Access, is finished enough to charge another £10 for, and I'm not supposed to notice that this [i][u]solo developer[/i][/u] is also working on another 7 games, Stock Car USA (presumably Daytona), Skid Race, DDI Touring Car Championship (TOCA?), Speedy 500, Edge Racer, Difficult Driving, and Futurally. Call me sceptical, but I don't see how multiple, feature rich, fun racing games are going to issue from Dirk in a timely manner given how much he's taken on simultaneously. It smacks of a child with mountains of food on his plate swearing that he will eat it all and not pass out sick. There is some fun to be had here, particularly the Birmingham track which is generally more chaotic that the others. In all though, this effort sucks. I quickly reached the point where I’d need to fine-tune the controls with Steam’s overrides and then spend ages getting sweaty to ‘unlock’ further fun with the game, and as it turned out I couldn’t be arsed. Gutted, I missed the refund window. And so, instead of this, check out New Star GP – it’s infinitely better. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2217580/New_Star_GP/

This is the Virtua Racing successor I’ve wanted for years. It expands on it in all the right ways, adding teams with different stats that you can definitely feel on the track, challenging courses that reward practice, and by the looks of the menu, some interesting upcoming modes to explore. Currently you have unlimited time trials and single arcade races; each mode is what you’d expect and quite satisfying. Weather and time-of-day effects are already here, but seem to be random—hopefully we get control over these in the future, because they’re quite nice. I’ve only noticed a couple minor things so far. Handling can be quite twitchy at certain settings, so it’s worth playing with linearity/sensitivity to find your balance (i like Normal handling, 65 linearity/95 sensitivity on pad). The AI currently doesn’t really shy away from contact, so if youre used to cleaner racing in an F120XX game you might need to adjust your expectations. On the flip side, AI also seem to have racing incidents among themselves, so you get some fun GRID-like moments where you need to swerve hard to avoid a 4-car pileup, AI cars launching themselves into the air, crashing out on the walls, etc. Races feel lively and dangerous in all the right ways. Runs damn near perfect on the Steam Deck too. An earlier version of the demo had some questionable performance, but DDI has clearly done a lot of optimization since then. Overall, if you loved Virtua Racing and want a 2.0, or if you just enjoy good racing, this is a great game at a very fair price.

Though I've never personally been a fan of traditional high-speed racing or the motorsports scene, I can not deny that one of arcade's biggest attractions from back in its glory days was without a doubt those large and fancy futuristic machines with the big seats inviting a world of intense racing and speed with them! No doubt witnessing these beasts in action during their prime must have been nothing short of exhilarating for those who lived in the moment at the right time back several decades ago when console gaming was still largely in its infancy unlike today's modern consoles and digital platforms. To that effect, Super Retro GP aims to recapture that same spectacular experience as it doesn't just make bold mention of Sega's own Virtua Racing for nothing here! Seeing how there's a lot to unpack here in this particular review, I'll take through each step of what makes this a particularly promising indie and all of the usual positives alongside potential drawbacks to consider where 'Early Access' is concerned as it were. But without further ado, Super Retro GP has you take the role of a driver in one of many Formula One cars as you take on various tracks in multiple game modes in the pursuit of being not just 'number one' at the end of the race but also to be the very best there ever was on the leaderboards! Seeing as the motorsports scene is quite competitive, so too is the real passion of many racing enthusiasts that will easily take to this indie's much-beloved callback to the arcade racing days of old! Before going too far into the technical details where gameplay and graphics goes among others, I should emphasize that this is currently in Early Access and, as a result, a fair amount of the game is still a 'work-in-progress' as it were. Given that only the Arcade and Time Trial game modes are currently available alongside four tracks as of the making of this review, that being Birmingham Superprix, Forest Falls Raceway, Matterhorn Pass and Sandstorm Moterplex. Naturally this will be off-putting for some, only having a 'slice' of what is looking to be quite the promising 'pie' as it were, albeit I'd wager that this is worth wishlisting if one isn't keen to buy into a product that isn't quite fully finished yet as what is here is certainly pretty impressive as far as managing to catch the interest of someone who isn't typically into cars or racing games in general! However this review wouldn't amount to much if I kept beating around the bush so, with that being said, Super Retro GP focuses on keeping the physics as close to realistic as possible whilst maintaining the charming early 3D polygon graphics that are faithful to its aforementioned inspiration. No doubt such a title as this isn't your typical casual kart racing type of game that's easy to get into with little to no experience, seeing as excelling in Super Retro GP requires a lot of precise driving and knowing when to speed up as well as how much to slow down when making various tight turns across each of the tracks you'll be racing on. What intrigues me here is that, after picking your desired game mode but before selecting a track, you get to choose both a driver and a F1 car to pilot. Whilst nothing out of the ordinary as far as the drivers themselves goes on account of it being purely cosmetic, the F1 vehicles are where things get interesting as each car has six stats to take into consideration: Acceleration, Handling, Grip, Brakes, Slipstream and Durability. This naturally lends itself well to giving players a wide variety of playstyles various options on how to approach the game with since, for example, I started off with 'Car #4', known as MP48 of Neon Technologies, due to its excellent Handling and Brakes for getting used to the controls easier whilst the other four stats were slightly below-average to compensate. Once I stopped crashing into every second corner and managed to start getting into decent positions in the Arcade races, I moved up towards 'Car #3', MP44 of VR Racing, with having a maxed out Acceleration and Brakes but having poor Handling/Grip and next to no Durability or Slipstream to start winning races with... Then I found out about 'Car #13', B192 of Supernova Nation, and proceeded to use what I am 99% certain is an overpowered F1 car (basically Car #3 but slightly worse Acceleration for MUCH better Handling/Grip!) to actually compete on the leaderboards with! Truth be told, I do admire the bold decision to include a wide variety of vehicles to choose from, with each having their own unique stats with having both various strengths and drawbacks to each individual F1 car; although I do hope that the studio behind this fine indie finds a way of balancing the vehicles a little better as most competitive players will be at a strong disadvantage by not using the nearly-broken Car #13 in all its golden glory! (An interesting bug displays it as lime-green on the load screen for race tracks, yet it's shiny yellow in the car selection screen and in-game?) Speaking of looks, it should be quite obvious that Super Retro GP takes to heart the iconic visual style that makes Virtua Racing memorable for so many here as the polygonal graphics truly do resemble Sega's own legendary racing cabinet from all the way back in 1992! Certainly a lot of little details here can be seen, whether it's the tire skid marks and sparks coming from your car when tight corners are made or even just the overall ambiance that's quite difficult to capture when recreating a game based on an older IP from the fifth generation of consoles or earlier, seeing as Dangerous Derk Interactive have truly went well and beyond in bringing this game to live with full of character and a clear passion for racing! Truly it can be said that this is one for the racing fans although, outside of this being EA and the limited content currently available, my only issue concerning this game is how the physics of Super Retro GP is handled as sometimes competing F1 cars coming up behind you will shove your car out of the way in a manner that is both annoying in terms of gameplay and unrealistic as far as how actual motorsports plays out in the real world. Alongside this are how the game handles collisions as there are a few small parts of certain walls within courses that won't just slow down your car for grinding against them but just outright force the F1 car to a complete halt as if it were headed straight into a wall as opposed to rubbing alongside it. Whether you get this game or even just wishlist it to keep an eye on it over the coming months and years is very much going to depend on your interest in racing games as well as the older arcade classics as a whole, seeing as it was largely the latter that drew my attention towards this indie. However, should you give Super Retro GP a shot, I can say with confidence that you'll quite like what's currently on offer here and I am truly looking forward to seeing what the developers come up with this fine title in 2025! TLDR Version: • Highly-refined gameplay focusing on precise driving and careful tight turning in the highly-competitive Motorsports scene (+) • Lovely atmosphere that oozes charm using early 3D polygon graphics reminiscent of the glory days in older console generations (+) • A great callback to the racing cabinets seen in arcades with heavy inspiration coming from Sega's own Virtua Racing (+) • Four tracks and two game modes currently on offer, with plenty more on the way (+) • Physics can occasionally be janky and result in competing drivers unrealistically shunting you out of the way and slight brushes against the wall violently pushing your F1 car backwards (-) • Currently in Early Access, meaning the content on offer is limited and may not be appealing at the current price point (-) • Super Retro GP is a challenging and arcade-styled racing game, which likely will put off casual fans of the genre who prefer kart racer games (-)

I’ll cut to the chase right now: Super Retro GP is wonderful, a true sight to behold, it plays fantastic and it is hands down the Virtua Racing 2 we never got. I remember the first time I saw the first pictures of this game I immediately went "Please be good, please be good". And boy did it deliver… First off, the game looks stunning. A modern take on the low-poly aesthetics, with these little details that are reminiscent of Virtua Racing with a modern touch that feels like it belongs, and never out of place. For instance, the modern lighting on these polygons truly feels like it had been missing all these years. A sunset has never looked better, and I am amazed to admit this to myself, but SRGP looks even better then Virtua Racing. And in true 4K (unlike any version of Virtua Racing out there) or even more if your computer can handle it. Which takes me to performance: not only is the game very well optimized and will run fine on smaller computers, the dev included both resolution and quality options that will allow to get a flawless performance regardless of the machine you have. Back to gameplay, and handling: this basically feels like a sequel should. You are in familiar territory but you can feel a little more sophistication which really indicates how much replay value there is going to be with this one. This is the case, for instance, with the way you need to handle braking, which is a little more technical than the original, and a welcome addition. In terms of content, I was never frustrated by the “1 car, 3 tracks” deal of Virtua Racing, but finally having so many more cars to sink our teeth into, and blasting through the various tracks with each one of them, learning their strength and weaknesses and elaborating strategies to get better lap times each time around, is just fun as hell. Considering the number of cars and tracks to come (still locked at this point), there’s no doubt this game is going to be hours and hours of fun, and will age like fine wine just like its inspiration did. Finally, the whole experience is pure arcade fun. No boring story mode that feels like work, no unskippable cutscenes, just pure racing. Love it even more for this. Honestly as a Virtua Racing fan I was thrilled by the Switch version, only disappointed it never came to other platforms, where it would exceed the Switch’s 1080p limitation. And I thought that was it. I don’t think Sega will ever resuscitate the franchise and, as kind of a purist, I never thought any indie effort would rival (or even top) the original. But this one did, and I’m the first one amazed to say I’m having at least as much fun playing SRGP, as I do Virtua Racing (if not more). Coming from me this means a lot. To think this was developed by one guy… Incredible feat if you ask me. And really, who cares if the Sega logo isn't on this one: it doesn’t need it. And Sega, if you ever reconsider and start working on a Virtua Racing 2, good luck topping Super Retro GP.

As big fan of Virtua Racing, I had hopes about Super Retro GP. Overall, the game doesn't deliver anything promising. I know it's only early access and it's very indie, so I hope the dev will update the game soon because it has some potential. But overall, content is very scarce (only 3 different cars with different color schemes and very few tracks) but worst than anything, handling is very far from Virtua Racing and isn't really fun currently. Track Design is also an important aspect that doesn't deliver enough fun : I feel like tracks would need a real level designer to offer an interesting experience. (but, fun thing, Birmingham Superprix, a real event of the 90s is in the game. Unfortunately the track doesn't fit current handling of cars)/ I feel like the game miss a proper team of 4-5 people to reach it's target so I can't recommand it because it's far to expensive for what it offers. However, with improvements, it could slowly become the game Virtua Racing fans are waiting for a long time.

Hasn't been updated in a long time now with missing features never delivered. I think this game is dead, and it's not that great as it is. Just get Hotshot Racing instead.

DDI did a great job with this one! Precisely what we're looking for, A virtua racer succesor, its honestly better than SEGA would do if they did it with a giant budget. Looking forward to GP addition! thanks

The last update was exactly one year ago, and it still says early access. It’s a very promising game and for the first 40 minutes you will have the nicest Virtua Racing member berries. Then you start to see that the game is far from being finished. This could have become something great, but the game’s development looks very dead.

Il gioco ha del potenziale, pero ci sono molte cose da rivedere a partire dall movimento dell' auto in curva, gli investimenti lasciano veramente molto a desiderare, davvero fastidiosa quando l' auto salta per aria. Se voleva essere un elogio a "virtua racing" ci siamo quasi, pero sinceramente da giocatore incallito del famoso gioco prodotto dalla sega al momento questo" super retrp gp "riguardo a giocabile è nettamente inferiore. Pensavo di riprovare le vecchie sensazioni provate con virtua racing ma al momento non ci siamo proprio. IMPERATIVO DA RIVEDERE LA GIOCABILITA

At the time I'm writing this, I've only played it for a little bit so far, but already love the game's presentation and visuals - absolutely NAILS the original Sega Virtua Racing vibe. Unfortunately, that includes a couple of drawbacks as well ;-) These being: 1. the short clips of music that play once you pass a checkpoint but then end much too soon, leaving you with just your engine sound. 2. Speaking of engine sounds, why don't the other cars make any sounds? It would add vastly to the immersion if you weren't the only noisemaker on the road, so to speak. But it IS in Early Access, so I have high hopes for the devs to address these minor quibbles - and I'm looking forward to more of the awesome tracks that are already included. So far, a winner and a don't-think-just-buy-it rating from me!