Welcome Time Wasters!
I’ve been on a bit of a racing game spree lately. Last week I reviewed Super Tux Cart and a couple weeks prior to that I reviewed Paintball Racers. I’ve also been playing racing games in my off time (specifically F-Zero). So when I saw Turbo Drifter online I figured I’d give it a shot.
Just loading up the game to the main screen got me really hyped up to play. This is because the opening music to the game is so freaking awesome! In fact, all of the songs in the game are great (even if there are only a few). I can honestly say that the audio is what kept me playing this game for so long.
Unfortunately, the audio is the best part of the game.
Gameplay in Turbo Drifters is really, really limited. Players can control their cars with the left and right arrow keys and can start a drift with the spacebar. That’s it. The game doesn’t actually have gas, brake or reverse buttons. This makes it stupid hard to control cars around turns or to readjust after going off course.
Turbo Drifters is played from a top down view that follows the racers round the course. Alia tried to follow it and found it confusing and strange, but luckily I spent a lot of time with the SNES Biker Mice from Mars videogame when I was a kid (for anyone wondering, I repped Vinnie).
Judging by the name of the game, it’s safe to assume that the whole point of the game is to drift around turns at super fast speeds, but that’s easier said than done. As I said before, drifts are started with the spacebar, but there is no button to end a drift. The controls are also really touchy. A simple click of the spacebar and an arrow key throws the car into an uncontrollable drift. This had me going the wrong way and flying off the course a lot.
It’s also really hard to counter drift. Players can start a drift and hold the opposite direction of the turn way longer than what should be necessary to come out of the drift.
This is the part of Turbo Drifters where the computers have it easy. AI doesn’t have to drift. Instead, the AI will take each turn will great precision and be able to turn much more tightly than the player could ever do. This only makes the game more challenging as drifting is basically a handicap that the AI doesn’t have to deal with.
Also missing from the game is a mini-map. It’s not a huge complaint, but surely by 2014 we could manage to fit a small detail like this into the game.
On another good note, Turbo Drifters does have some nice graphics. The racetracks are bright and filled with vivid colors that are really pleasing to the eye. Also, the whole game just has a nice 2.5D look to it. The cars aren’t overly detailed and kind of all look like Volkswagen Beetles or Mini Coopers, but they still have a charming feel to them.
Overall, I can’t recommend playing Turbo Drifters. The inability to control the cars’ speed is a huge problem and the touchy drifting controls make the game an absolute chore to play. I do however recommended loading the game up and letting it sit there to enjoy the upbeat and catchy music. Now if only Biker Mice from Mars was on the Virtual Console.
Turbo Drifters earns 1.5 GiN Gem out of 5!