I’m an 80s child. I see a retro racer, I add to wishlist. I’ve had Close Call Extreme on my wishlist for ages, and perhaps that’s part of the problem, because having bought the game on release, I wasn’t prepared to see absolutely everything this 80s racer has to offer in about half an hour. More concerningly, I also didn’t find what I’d played to be particularly addictive, either.
Close Call Extreme is a procedural road generator (in segment styles that unlock through continuous play) that is a score attack racer. You have 60 seconds on the clock, and an endless road that racks up points the further you travel. Other traffic drives along the road, often swerving wildly, and for every 10 cars you manage to pass closely, you’ll gain 20 seconds back on your timer. If you can chain passes without crashing into a car, the wall, or a central reservation, then a multiplier builds up, speeding up the score rate. Crashing doesn’t kill you or automatically bring you to a game over screen. Instead, you pull over to the side of the road and lose time as you build back up your speed from zero. Crashing loses you around 5 to 6 seconds, and as time is premium, sometimes being cautious and lifting off the accelerator is the best course of action.
For a simple game, Close Call Extreme revels in simple design. The graphics look like they are from the 80s, with free-to-use retro music propping up the sound department. The music stops if your run goes on for a while, and this lack of attention to the endgame and general progression is a theme. If you play relatively cautiously, your run will go on for a while. As you cross score thresholds, you’ll unlock new driver ranks, and they unlock new track pieces to be added into the track generation. These include a snowy terrain, an off-road turn, a night mode, and a narrower track. Some have more traffic on them, and the traffic will move more wildly than before, and that’s about all the game has to offer. I’d unlocked everything in half an hour, and my runs did not feel particularly unique or special, because the set of tools the track is being built from is so small.
Beyond that, I found movement was a bit inconsistent. Close Call Extreme uses keyboard controls, and there’s a slight momentum to moving left and right. That means when you need to turn the other way, there’s a slowdown and a delay in the shift of direction. This becomes a tricky issue in the snowy sections because any hard movements result in you smashing into the side walls. Of course, the traffic will also veer into you, and sometimes the visuals imply you’ve not hit the car, but you’ll crash anyway. As there’s little reward for cutting it extremely fine, it’s best to stay slightly away from cars and grab the multiplier instead. Doing that means your run can last a while, and you may run out of steam before you crash out because it becomes quite monotonous to play. This is where the lack of any local or online leaderboards really hurts Close Call Extreme. If I’m not competing against myself or others, I don’t feel rewarded or incentive to play.
After years in development, I am quite underwhelmed and disappointed with Close Call Extreme. I know that development length does not mean feature-rich, but this feels underbaked in almost every regard. Only the most ardent 80s retro score attack gamer will find joy here, and even then I think it’ll be limited. I’d love leaderboards and different vehicle types to extend the replayability, but I don’t think it’ll happen. Take extreme caution with Close Call Extreme.
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