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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.
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