Formula Retro Racing World Tour Review

Introduction

Racing has been a staple of gaming since the early 80’s and have evolved to a point where they are unrecognisable from the where they started. Players easily understand the demands the genre places on them and an instantly familiar control scheme leads to ease of access for even the greenest of gamers. Whether this is point-to-point racing of classics such as Outrun and SEGA Rally, or circuit racing, everyone knows that you’ve got to go fast and get out ahead of the pack.

Formula Retro Racing: World Tour – the follow up to Formula Retro Racing – goes back to this heyday and does away with the modern sensibilities of Forza and Gran Turismo in an effort to capture that arcade buzz.

Gameplay

Formula Retro Racing: World Tour does away with the massive lists of cars, varying stats and ridiculous amounts of content to distill the genre into a more streamlined and simple game and I for one am all for it. Here we have an arcade racer where not only are you fighting against a timer, but the field of competitors around a variety of circuits loosely based on real world locations.

Starting with Arcade mode, the expectations are simple – hurtle around the circuits at breakneck speeds clearing checkpoints to keep the timer going and try to place as high as you can. The higher your finishing position, the more points you are awarded and this in turn unlocks more locations. Each of the three difficulties generally ensures the AI presents a suitable challenge and will also dole out higher points totals to unlock things more quickly.

There are a total of 18 tracks set across various parts of the world and a choice of 10 cars each with a selection of colours so there is a bit of customisation here even if it is minimal. After chosing a track and either a race car or a drifter, you are thrown right into the thick of the action with a good old rolling start a la Daytona – a word I can’t even think of without recalling the arcade machine. No need to worry about launch control or getting the timing right for a boost here, just hold down the throttle and away you go.

At the easiest difficulty, the AI becomes a bit of a pushover once you get the hang of the twitchy handling. But, as you ramp it up, they’ll get faster and the game expects you to have learned the tracks like the back of your hand. Thankfully, rubber banding doesn’t appear to be a thing and it’s initially very easy to eek out a sizable lead provided you don’t bang into everything or find yourself going off track. If you do, you can expect to tumble down the rankings as it aggressively scrubs off your speed. One concern was that, despite claims of realistic physics, it definitely felt like there were times where the game actively worked against me. Finding the apex and getting round tight U-bends at nearly 300kph on one lap was often followed up with the car understeering and going wide on the next lap. Consistency appeared to be a bit all over the place.

It’s at the higher difficulties where other issues also arise. The AI tends to stick to a racing line and will happily nudge you out of the way and with them rarely making mistakes, taking advantage of drafting and the 1st place car taking off like a rocket catching up can often feel out of reach. This is felt prominently on the oval tracks where the 1st place vehicle seems all but impossible to catch.

Other game modes include Grand Prix for up to 4 player racing action as well as Eliminator and Free Practice. Eliminator is a weird one though. You start at the back but the race doesn’t start properly until you reach 10th position. After each successful lap the AI get faster until they get to point where you just can’t keep up but it also doesn’t eliminate anyone. Provided you can maintain a position no lower than 10th you can just keep going until it all ends at lap 30. This is fine, but it is also the point where it appears to commit the most egregious of sins – AI cheating.

Computer controller drivers can take corners at considerably higher speeds and I witnessed them going off track with zero impact on their speed. For me this is a big no no and takes away a lot of the fairness. No matter how perfectly you drive, the AI always seems to be get away with things the player can’t. I lost count of how many times I was right on the tail of another racer only to see them maintain their speed at a corner and shoot off into the distance, even if I’d only made minor reductions to my own. To be honest, it quickly became frustrating.

Fortunately, there have been some improvements that wear down some of the rough edges that were present in the original game. Hitting another vehicle or a barrier no longer sees the car explode and instead adds to a damage bar. The other vehicle will still be destroyed so you can use this to your advantage but don’t expect to win if this is abused. Timers are also a lot more forgiving to the point where they felt pointless but this is based on old arcade racers so it still feels appropriate for them to be there.

For those of you out there who like to challenge friends there is also a leaderboard for lap times and total race times. It’s just a shame these appear to have already been hacked with some folk posting times that are up to 30 seconds faster than the nearest competitor.

Presentation

But what of the presentation? It’s clearly been inspired by Virtua Racing and it’s low poly, flat textured tracks and vehicles. I really liked the style and everything pops with bright colours and sharpness to the graphics. Each location has trackside details that help them stand apart. In London for example, you’ll see an approximation of Big Ben, China has Buddha statues and Las Vegas dazzles with a lovely night time setting. There is also an attempt at the effect you get when entering an exiting tunnels with the light dimming on entry and briefly becoming over exposed when you exit.

The music seems to blur into one continual dirge after a while and I really had to pay attention to realise it was different on every track. Engine noises could have also done with a little tweaking to make each car sound distinct. These were aesthetics of the genre in the 90’s but time has moved on and this is one area that would have benefited from more modernisation. I love a chip tune, Mega Man 2 Wilys Castle stage has been my ringtone for over a decade, but yeah, it wasn’t great.

Conclusion

For anyone looking for a trip down memory lane, Formula Retro Racing: World Tour will be right up your street. Yes, there are a few niggles here and there but overall it’s a fun experience that will keep players coming back again and again. The easy to pick up, difficult to put down “just one more go” gameplay has never lost it’s charm. Visually, it’s appealing and I loved the retro style. It’s also a massive improvement over the original Formula Retro Racing which occasionally made me want to throw my controller at the TV. There’s a ton of content here and for a palate cleanser between tentpole AAA releases you can’t really go wrong. Just be aware that the AI is a cheating….

80/100

Pros
Lovely retro aesthetic
Broad selection of tracks

Cons
Inconsistent physics
AI not bound by the same rules as the player