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+#+date: 2020-12-28
+#+title: Neon Drive: A Nostalgic 80s Arcade Racing Game
+
+* 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.0x4b1d.org/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.0x4b1d.org/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.0x4b1d.org/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.0x4b1d.org/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.