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+#+title: Neon Drive: A Nostalgic 80s Arcade Racing Game
+#+date: 2020-12-28
+#+description: A video game review for Neon Drive.
+#+filetags: :gaming:
+
+* Game Description
+[[https://store.steampowered.com/app/433910/Neon_Drive/][Neon Drive]]
+presents itself as a simple arcade-style game inspired by the arcade
+race games of the 1980s, yet it has managed to take up hours of my life
+without much effort. The game description, directly from the Steam page,
+is intriguing enough to entice anyone who's been looking for a good
+arcade racing game:
+
+#+begin_quote
+Neon Drive is a slick retro-futuristic arcade game that will make your
+brain melt. You've been warned. From beautiful cityscapes and ocean
+roads to exploding enemy spaceships, Neon Drive has it all.
+
+#+end_quote
+
+* Gameplay
+The game holds true to the
+[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrofuturism][retro-futurism]] style,
+including chrome female robots, pixelated arcade machines, and
+[[https://teddit.net/r/outrun/][outrun]] aesthetics.
+
+Each level of the game is shown as a separate arcade machine. Each
+arcade machine lets you play on Normal, Hard, Insane, Practice, and Free
+Run. To beat each arcade, you must reach the end of the level without
+crashing your car into the various obstacles on the course. Basic levels
+let you move left or right to avoid blocks in the road. Later levels put
+you through other tests, such as dodging traffic or blasting asteroids.
+
+The game uses synthwave music to keep you on track to make the correct
+moves by timing the beats of the songs to the correct moves on the
+screen. It reminds me of the early Guitar Hero games, as well as mobile
+apps like VOEZ - repetition and staying on-beat is the only way to win.
+
+* In-Game Screenshots
+Taking a look at the main menu, you can see that Neon Drive plays into
+every stereotype you can think of around retro-futuristic, synthwave
+arcades (in a good way).
+
+#+caption: Neon Drive Menu
+[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20201228-neon-drive/neon_drive_menu.png]]
+
+Once you get into the first level, we see that the choice of car fits
+right in with the stereotypical cars of the 80s, like the
+[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMC_DeLorean][DeLorean]] or the
+[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari_F40][Ferrari F40]]. Each new
+level comes with new color schemes and cars, so you should never get
+tired of the aesthetic.
+
+#+caption: Neon Drive Race
+[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20201228-neon-drive/neon_drive_race.png]]
+
+Personally, I love the orange and blue colors used in level 2:
+
+#+caption: Level 2
+[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20201228-neon-drive/neon_drive_level_2.png]]
+
+If you're the competitive type and getting 100% on all arcade machines
+isn't enough, there are leaderboards for the regular part of the game,
+and the endurance game mode.
+
+#+caption: Leaderboard
+[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20201228-neon-drive/neon_drive_leaderboard.png]]
+
+* Other Suggestions
+Neon Drive sits nicely within the well-founded cult genre of Outrun.
+Other games that I've enjoyed in this same spectrum are:
+
+- [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/233270/Far_Cry_3__Blood_Dragon/][Far
+  Cry 3: Blood Dragon]]
+- [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/1239690/Retrowave/][Retrowave]]
+- [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/732810/Slipstream/][Slipstream]]
+
+Although these games aren't necessarily in the same genre, they do have
+aspects that place them close enough to interest gamers that enjoyed
+Neon Drive:
+
+- [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/311800/Black_Ice/][Black Ice]]
+- [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/746850/Cloudpunk/][Cloudpunk]]
+- [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/1222680/Need_for_Speed_Heat/][Need
+  for Speed: Heat]]
+- [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/1019310/VirtuaVerse/][VirtuaVerse]]
+
+Of course, if all you really care about is the arcade aspect of these
+games, you can check out the
+[[https://store.steampowered.com/app/400020/Atari_Vault/][Atari Vault]]
+or any of the other classic games sold on Steam by companies like Namco,
+Atari. For something like Nintendo, you'd have to settle for buying used
+classic consoles or delve into the world of emulation.