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+date = 2020-12-28
+title = "Neon Drive: A Nostalgic 80s Arcade Racing Game"
+description = ""
+draft = false
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+
+# Game Description
+
+[Neon Drive](https://store.steampowered.com/app/433910/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:
+
+> 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.
+
+# Gameplay
+
+The game holds true to the
+[retro-futurism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrofuturism) style,
+including chrome female robots, pixelated arcade machines, and
+[outrun](https://teddit.net/r/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).
+
+![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
+[DeLorean](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMC_DeLorean) or the [Ferrari
+F40](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari_F40). Each new level comes
+with new color schemes and cars, so you should never get tired of the
+aesthetic.
+
+![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:
+
+![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.
+
+![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:
+
+-   [Far Cry 3: Blood
+    Dragon](https://store.steampowered.com/app/233270/Far_Cry_3__Blood_Dragon/)
+-   [Retrowave](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1239690/Retrowave/)
+-   [Slipstream](https://store.steampowered.com/app/732810/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:
+
+-   [Black Ice](https://store.steampowered.com/app/311800/Black_Ice/)
+-   [Cloudpunk](https://store.steampowered.com/app/746850/Cloudpunk/)
+-   [Need for Speed:
+    Heat](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1222680/Need_for_Speed_Heat/)
+-   [VirtuaVerse](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1019310/VirtuaVerse/)
+
+Of course, if all you really care about is the arcade aspect of these
+games, you can check out the [Atari
+Vault](https://store.steampowered.com/app/400020/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.