Retro Highway Review

Retro Highway is an endless racing game where you’ll drive and dodge traffic and obstacles while collecting coins, power ups and pulling off (limited) tricks to earn some boosts. I say endless because as long as you don’t crash, the racing doesn’t end. Pulling off tricks also reward you with boost that can be used at any time.

Coins can be collected by picking up those peppered on the ground, in the air, by pulling off tricks like close calls and jumping from truck beds. But also by completing objectives during each run. So for example, you’ll be required to drive for X amount of KM without picking up coins, not pulling tricks, doing a set amount of close calls during your run. When you use coins to continue (more on that below), the objective won’t reset so you’ll be able to continue completing said objective(s).

When crashing, you’ll have a brief period of time to accept whether or not you’d like to continue where you crashed. For a single run, each continue will progressively be more expensive. The first shot is 50 coins, then 100, then 200. Once you’ve spent 200 coins to continue, next time you crash, you’re done. Note that it will take sometime before you’re able to continue because you need be able to amass a bit of coins.

They can also be used to purchase new motorcycles or improve the efficiency of the three types of power-ups. There’s magnet which will automatically attract nearby coins, a shield that will give you some resistance to some and an arrow like icon that increases the value of coins. These power-ups can also be picked up while driving.

While you can use coins to purchase new rides or increase the efficiency of the power-ups, in order to unlock new riding playgrounds, you need to complete a set amount of the aforementioned objectives. While some objectives are tied to some roads, for example to do close calls to oil spills, you need to select the terrain with said spills, most objectives can be completed on any road.

The game looks great; its throw back 16-bit aesthetic reminded me of classic racers such the Top Gear and Rad Racer series. I spent an ungodly amount of hours in Top Gear 2 and I felt the same type of addiction. Interestingly enough, when restarting runs, the design of the road changes slightly keeping players on their toes with new roads for the same map. The soundtrack does sound great and vary a bit. The same track will have a new tune if you replay it immediately. However, it’s not as classic as the aforementioned NES and Super NES racers.

While there’s nothing inherently wrong with Retro Highway, it does lack a bit of gameplay variety and it’s unfortunate the development team couldn’t figure out ways to implement more tricks besides close calls and jumping from the bed of trucks. The repetition might turn some players off.

Retro Highway is one of most addictive game I’ve had the privilege of playing in these last few years. Its simple mechanics and easy to pick up and play controls will always bring you back for one more run as you want to either complete challenges or drive further than your last run. While the limited tricks is a bit deceiving, the racing in and of itself is fun and addictive. If you’re looking for something light to play, you can’t go wrong with Retro Highway.