Originally released back in 1994 as ‘Bike Daisuki! Hashiriya Kon’ as a Japanese exclusive, this motorbike Mario Kart styled racer is finally now available worldwide on modern day console. Now known as Rider’s Spirits to the western world, this is one of those retro racer games that looks cute but requires more skill than meets the eye to do well in. It also brings along some interesting gameplay mechanics which makes it stand out from the crowd.
After picking from one of your eight characters who almost all look like they could be extra members of the Village People, you’ll want to spend your time in Rider’s GP mode to unlock the 20 tracks available in the game. There are five areas with four tracks in each (the fourth is hidden until you win the previous three championships) and to do this you’ll need to keep your bike on the track. Each track is quite short and the five lap races zoom by, but your bikes are inherently full of understeer and so you’ll need to use the grass or mud on the inside curb to slow your bike down, or brake. Braking in these types of games is quite unusual but you really have to in Rider’s Spirits because otherwise you’ll run out wide and lose more time off the track. Some tracks have a mixture of asphalt and dirt and the bikes handle differently for each area and some also have oil spills which are exceptionally slippy too. Add to that many tracks have barriers, pillars or giant stone tomes in the way that will throw you off the bike when you hit them and you’ll quickly see precision is required.
Rider’s Spirit wants you to replay and learn the layouts, the best lines and when to brake because whilst there are weapons in the game, getting them isn’t always of benefit. Each track has a pitlane which in Rider’s GP mode you’ll need to drive through to get a pick up to throw at someone, or to boost your own bike. Often those pitlanes aren’t the fastest route so it can be more trouble than its worth. This won’t stop the AI throwing bombs at you though which you’ll need to avoid. One weapon causes the screen to turn entirely black except for the riders and is ridiculously overpowered and spammed by the AI. It is one of two balancing problems Rider’s Spirit has. The second is that the characters have their own stats for speed, turning and acceleration but they aren’t remotely similar to each other. There is no reason to choose 6 of the 8 characters as they are all poorer than the two professional biker looking characters.
Outside of the main mode there are some excellent additional modes to be had. Time Trial lets you enjoy hotlapping a 5 lap race on your own. Endurance Mode has you select two riders as a pair and be given a fuel tank that depletes all its fuel every 3 or so laps. This means you’ll need to pitstop, swap driver and refuel. I really liked this mode as its just something other cutesy looking kart racers didn’t really explore back in 1994 and it feels unique as if you forget to pit, you’ll be out of the race.
Rider’s Spirit is available to play in 1 or 2 player mode, with an unusual second rear view taking up half the screen if you play in single player. When a second player joins you’ll get access to Battle Race which is a 1v1 race mode, and Chicken Run which is a short minigame that tests when you brake to get as close to the end of a ledge as possible without falling off. These are both nice additions, although its interesting that Endurance Mode isn’t’ available for 2 players.
As this is a port to modern consoles, the game works like many other ports where you launch the game inside a wider game that gives you settings to play with. The biggest addition here is that you can trigger a game rewind feature should you screw up and want to redo a corner or overtake.
Overall, despite some angry AI and lopsided character stats, there is a fun and engaging retro racer here. I am a sucker for this kind of game so my score may be generous but I’m several hours in, still racing around these tiny tracks and enjoying the battles along the way. The AI isn’t a cakewalk so it’ll be a challenge if you don’t spam the rewind feature. It has got that mid 90’s cheeky charm ala early Micro Machines titles that appears to have been lost over the decades too. Think a smaller, biker version of Mario Kart but you need to brake and pit for fuel. What’s not to enjoy?
Review copy kindly provided by publisher. PS4/5 versions tested.
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