Lanesplit initially drew me in with its stylish demo. It is a simple game, but one that focuses on a very niche aesthetic and then builds its entire gameplay loop around it. In Lanesplit, we play as a biker, out on the open road, with no objective. Instead, the world is synthwave VHS-filtered in a way that feels hyper-real yet nostalgic. Much like the movie Speed, all that matters is staying on the bike above a certain speed for as long as possible and not crashing into another vehicle or obstacle. This is an open-world endless rider, but it feels so much bigger.
There are multiple bikes and riders to select from in Lanesplit, although most of them will be locked behind high score thresholds. Some bikes are faster, some are more nimble, and others favour acceleration. Whatever ride you pick, you’ll be placed into one of three distinctive environments to ride around in. One is a Japanese city perimeter road complex, full of bridges, tunnels, and sweeping lane changes. Another is in the snowy mountains under the northern lights, where tight hairpins will throw you off like a ragdoll. The third is a dense American city area, which swaps the speed of the previous two for tight 90-degree bends, lots of weaving through cross traffic, and a smaller, tighter map to stay on top of. You can get off your bike and walk around these places, but the off-bike controls are absolutely atrocious and broken beyond belief. Every time I tried it, I glitched out and got stuck within a few seconds. Stay on the bike for now, in the hope this gets patched and improved over time. Talking of glitches, if you crash in Lanesplit, you’ll respawn straddling your bike at a standstill at the edge of the road. In the snowy mountain area, the curbs are dropped, and the bike often gets stuck. The only way out is to walk the bike backwards like you’ve soiled yourself in the hope you have the oomph to get back on the road again. If that doesn’t work, you’ll have to reload the area again.
Riding in Lanesplit is simple and fluid. Each bike has its own feel, but they all carry weight and ride like curvy lines. By that I mean you can’t wibble-wobble through traffic with hard turns as the bike takes a short moment to build weight momentum, and then it’ll hard turn. That means if you want to drive through traffic at full throttle, you’ll need to plan some moves in advance. Playing in chase cam is fun, but I found myself gravitating towards the helmet cam. The squeal of the bike is muffled, and the music is clearer. With the visor’s tint, the motion blur, the dusk or dawn lighting, and the VHS-style UI, it evoked a true zen state. I could weave in and out of the traffic around me, holding my breath in the tight squeezes, and everything felt just right. Then inevitably, I’d bite off more than I could chew, and I’d smack into something, causing my scoring streak to come to a crashing halt. Historically, I’ve never gelled with bike racing games as much as car, kart, or even futuristic racers. Lanesplit is a true exception for me. Everything made sense, and I suspect that’s because it’s quite a simple physics model. You don’t need to worry about front and rear brakes, for example. It’s all about the glide turn.
Your best score won’t just unlock other bikes or riders. It will also place you on the global leaderboard for each area. This brings the only true goal or competitive edge to Lanesplit, because everything else is an open sandbox for you to make the most of. That lack of structure will put some off, and I understand why. For some, it’ll be boring, but for me, the minimalism just fits the vibe Lanesplit is going for. There’s a strange emptiness, almost a vaporwave aesthetic that carries across every bit of Lanesplit. On a damp dawn morning, charging down a Japanese expressway, with sluggish synthwave music, a muted engine, and hardly anyone on the road, there’s a unique charm that I’m not sure everyone will appreciate. At least players can choose how much traffic is on the road, and that can turn a zen, quiet dusk ride into something more chaotic.
There’s also online multiplayer to consider, but its appeal will be limited. Again, like the main game, it’s all about chasing that high score for going fast and not crashing, but now you can do it as a pack. I’m sure it’s fun for a short while, but I’d imagine you’d need friends of similar skill levels to make pack racing feel differnet to the single player mode. Whether riding with mates or solo, I ran into a bug several times where my high score wasn’t saved or logged onto the online leaderboards. This is annoying because bikes are locked behind score thresholds. I guess you could also drive semi-fast and get these high-scores less skillfully, but where’s the fun in that?! I strongly suspect that the scoring issue may also be down to a few collision detection issues. Sometimes the score resets, and I can’t visually see a collision. Other times, I may gently graze a lamp post or barrier, and nothing changes. Consistency on this front would be appreciated.
Niche, but if it’s your niche, you’ll absolutely adore it. That’s how I’d sell Lanesplit to others. I’ve been using it as a post-work calm-me-down. Bombing down roads, weaving through traffic at pace, with no huge dramas if I get it wrong. One quick respawn later, and I’m usually on my way again. What it lacks in structure, it makes up for in retro-zen vibes. It’s niche, but it’s my kinda niche.
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