The first console I ever owned was a Sega Genesis back in the 1990’s. Besides spending tons of hours playing Sonic the Hedgehog, Streets of Rage, or several other games I also spent a good deal of time playing an arcade racing game from Sega called Outrun. It was so fun racing down the highway trying to avoid cars while trying to make it to the next checkpoint in time. Because I enjoyed that game so much when I saw Ansdor Games and Blitworks new game Slipstream that is heavily inspired by Outrun, I immediately knew I wanted to play it.
Slipstream was made by a single developer and is built on a custom engine that really will make you feel like you are playing something from the 90s. There is no doubt about it, when you boot up this game you will feel like you are playing Outrun again as everything from the way it looks, sounds, and plays is very close to the same. The game has a range of modes you can jump into including Grand Tour, Grand Prix, Time Trials, Single Race, Cannonball, and Battle Royale. Grand Tour has you racing through five zones with branching paths against a time limit in order to reach the end. Grand Prix is basically a series of regular races, Battle Royale is a race to avoid being eliminated, and Cannonball is similar to Grand Tour but gives you more choice over how you race like being able to toggle traffic on or off. The other modes like Single Race and Time Trials are exactly what they sound like. The game supports up to four local players in some of the modes but sadly there is no online functionality except for online leaderboards.
The game controls great as you are racing down the roads and drifting around corners. There are five different cars to choose from in the game each of which has different stats and you can even upgrade these in some of the modes. The game is also very approachable as you can choose from one of three difficulty modes to suit your needs. You can also reduce the game speed to make things more manageable if you need to and when you make a mistake you can rewind up to five seconds to give yourself another shot at doing it right. These options proved to be very useful to me as I did make mistakes at times as I felt like certain turns on some of the tracks came out of nowhere and I was ill-prepared for the moment. There is also a mechanic called slipstream that grants you more speed if you follow behind another vehicle for long enough. You’ll need to effectively use this to come out on top but watch out because the other cars on the road will do the same thing.
I mentioned it earlier but the visuals in Slipstream just ooze that 90s flavor. I liked that the team even included some additional visual filters in the form of VHS, CRT, and NTSC to give you even more choice over how the game looks. The retro soundtrack composed by Effoharkay is also perfect for this game as it has a nice variety of retro synthwave music to cruise to and the sound effects are satisfying as well. Trophy hunters will find 24 trophies included with a Platinum to earn. It’s a nice, varied list that will have you checking out all of the modes and it should be quite manageable to earn them all.
Slipstream is a wonderfully crafted throwback to 90’s arcade racers and well worth checking out for anyone who was a fan of Outrun. It has a nice array of modes and being able to play it with others locally is fun too. If you initially struggle with the difficulty you can also use one of the many options they offer to give yourself a better time with it. Overall, the game is a great value for the price and should please arcade racing fans.
*Slipstream is available now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. PlayStation 4 version reviewed. Review copy provided by the publisher for this review.
Slipstream
$9.99
Pros
- Great retro styled graphics
- Solid arcade racing mechanics that shouuld please Outrun fans
- Good amount of mode variety and difficulty options
- Pumping synthwave soundtrack
Cons
- Some of the tracks have really tricky turns
- May not offer enough depth for some
