Top down racers with an isometric slant to them were part of my bread and butter growing up. Think Ivan Ironman Super Offroad as the retro king of this but Circuit Superstars and GeneRally 2 are recent examples of games that to this so well. Retro Rally! is a new addition to this racing subgenre. Its a 1-4 player single screen track racer that wears its influences on its sleeve.
The best thing about Retro Rally! is its track diversity. There are 16 tracks, doubling to 32 when they are reversed but each one is vastly different and has a gimmick. One has a tornado roaming around the track ready to spin you out. Another has a bulldozer smashing walls and potentially yourself off track. A graveyard track has gates you can clip and close on your opponents, whilst the mountain track has giant snowballs rolling across it. Trains pop up on the railway track blocking the path and the space track has the back half entirely see-through, making driving it difficult. Every track has unique character and it makes the game stand out.
It is just as well because driving in Retro Rally! is a big sluggish and uneven. There is a single car that has a slow and stodgy turning circle that switches from turning to drifting in an awkward manner. The drifts are quite lazy and when some tracks have tight hairpins, it is faster to just wall ride sometimes and that’s not ideal. Drifting is a faster route to get around medium radius corners though, but after several hours I was still trying to find consistency with making the drift work. Braking is optional too – its easier to just lift the throttle unless its a hairpin. I hope consistency can be found in future patches post release.
Retro Rally! has a couple of modes, with the main championship modes able to be driven in local multiplayer. There is also time trial mode and gauntlet mode, the latter of which tips its hat towards Super Offroad. Gauntlet mode asks you to win every race in the game as the AI difficulty increases as their cars get faster and obtain nitro boosts. After each win you earn cash to upgrade your car, adding top speed, acceleration, cornering and nitro upgrades to your car. It mimics Super Offroad nicely and is the big challenge in the game. Its just a shame that the AI sometimes gets a bit lost. Many tracks have gaps to jump or crossed paths and the AI is easily fooled into getting stuck. Whilst the tracks have plenty of personality, they don’t visually convey gradient or camber very well. Some improved shadow effects would help with this as I’m sure this would make the racing more satisfying.
Retro Rally! isn’t all bad but its a bit of a rough and ready product. Graphically, its varied but rustic and difficult to understand in places. There is fun to be had here but I certainly struggled to find driving consistency. Your mileage may vary but whilst there is a lot of love put into the game, its a little too rough round the edges to be a recommendation in its current form.
Review copy provided by developer. Out now on Steam.
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