Super Woden GP 2 Review

90s arcade racers have always held a special place in my heart. The slick handling, the easy to pick up, difficult to put down gameplay really clicks with me and it’s here I find myself with Super Woden GPII. A throwback to those old games like Super Offroad where the challenge is keeping the car in check as much as it is racing. In fact, the game it reminds me of most, is the Skirdmarks series I played way back on the Amiga.

The game offers a wide variety of content to suit most people’s tastes. There’s arcade mode, time trial and career which itself contains rally modes, endurance races, track days and cups that cover various driving disciplines. Theres a massive selection of vehicles based on real life counterparts in various colours. This covers hot hatches, track day vehicles, sports cars, touring cars, rally cars and more.

Arcade mode is quite challenging and gives you three credits to complete eight rally stages. These get longer and tougher as you progress and the timer is tight. In fact I still struggle sometimes with the easy set! It is good fun though, and just the right side of challenging plus it pushes you to learn the tracks.

Career mode offers races and cups that cater to certain car types or power. Here’s where the endurance, rally, weekend and cups series come into play. The main meat of the game sees you buying a starter car and trying to unlock as many stars as possible by winning races. There’s a basic introduction to racing with slower, manageable vehicles and you’ll advance to more powerful kit as you add stars to your collection. You’ll need to learn the various disciplines and make use of every available race to progress. This does give the game a nice sense of progression.

It’s also far from easy to blast through the races. Don’t expect to go in and win everything immediately. The first few tracks are easy – basic layouts and high speed with very little need for braking – but get more complex. The AI also gets much more powerful vehicles and this is where the upgrade shop comes into play. But more on that in a bit.

This often leads to a bit of grinding for money as new races aren’t available until you collect a certain number of stars. This means you will need to repeat previous races to get money to upgrade as each standard vehicle is outclassed by your competitors fairly quickly. It does mean you don’t get ahead of yourself though and end up on complex courses with supercars before you even understand the gameplay. Thankfully races are quick and most will net you enough cash for the next upgrade you need. One other great thing is that as you hit different star levels, you will unlock new cars and these will, more often than not, allow you to complete at least one more set of races. Then it’s back to the grind for upgrades!

Each car has a small selection of upgradable parts on offer, with each offering different improvements. Engine upgrades for power, gears for speed, tyres and suspension for stability and cornering, chassis so you can take more hits and finally brakes.

The changes each upgrade brings can be felt immediately in the way the car handles. I recommend changing gears, tyres and suspension for the most significant improvements. Most cars will get a bit more twitchy, but they’re more stable and grippy meaning you can take corners more quickly. You also get an improved sense of speed and responsiveness as you improve your vehicles power and get more powerful cars.

Traditional arcade style handling is the order of the day here. The game encourages early entry into corners to maintain speed, so it’s about predetermining where to lift off the gas and where to brake. Little warning signs flash up to let you know a corner is coming, and there is a map, but finding the right line and speed sees you maintain a flow. It’s also worth taking advantage of slipstreamsn for a big boost as well. It was initially tough to control due to perspective and because of how twitchy it felt, but it’s easy to get used to. It might be arcade but the cars feel responsive and react to bumps in the road quite realistically. Heavier cars throw around their weight and understeer heavily, whilst hot hatches and rally cars are nimble and easier to wrangle round a corner at speed. Thankfully the controls are snappy and immediate, so high speed cornering and drifting become second nature.

The 90’s arcade vibes also extend to the visuals. What initially looks like a 16 bit racer, turns out to be a low poly, 3D. The cars are crammed with sponsorship logos and identifiable features that make them look like cars we all recognise. The tracks are packed with details such as emergency vehicles parked on roadsides during rally’s and at race tracks. Crowds pack the trackside during rally’s and stands full of bodies feature at race events. There’s the occasional pile of logs on a rally few tracks to catch you out as well! There’s also different weather and times of day available – rain, snow, morning, afternoon, evening, night racing are all covered.

Default bloom is a bit heavy handed but it is designed this way to give off the glow of an old CRT TV. Thankfully, multiple visual filters can also be applied to tune it to your liking. Personally, I preferred the cleaner aesthetics presented in the PC render mode. It seemed to bring a lot more detail out and was less of a distraction overall.

Race lighting is really nice with the various times of day with and weather effects adding their own visual flourishes. Evening races have a nice warm mood as the sun sets and night races see the headlamps and street lamps beautifully illuminate the tracks. Speaking of car lights, one really nice detail was starting an endurance race. As time progresses it gets darker and the car lights come on. It’s only a small thing but it’s this attention to detail that shines throughout the whole game.

The main menu is actually quite reminiscent reminiscent of Gran Turismo with manufacturers dotted around the map as well as the garage, upgrade shop and quick race options. This is slick and easy to navigate with the cursor snapping to each option.

This is all backed up by a retro soundtrack. There are a couple of good tunes but it gets repetitive. In the end I turned the music off and just enjoyed the sounds of the engines.

Super Woden GP II is an expansive package that will challenge your perception of what an arcade racer can offer. The quality of the presentation and the actual racing itself, is impeccable and full of tiny details. This is a great follow up to the original and delivers more of the same, but it feels much more refined. I loved the style of the whole thing. It tries to sell you old memories and it mostly succeeded for me. It reminded me of simpler times whilst bringing modern additions like a fleshed out career and race variety. I loved the challenge and the combative AI. The racing was exciting and wins felt earned. It’s a fantastic experience. If you fancy a different kind of racing game or have a love for these retro racers, you really can’t go wrong with Super Woden GP II.