Racing games – a staple genre for the last 50 years. We’ve seen and played everything from moving a dot on the screen with a track overlay to complex sim racers. But arguably one of the best times to be a fan of racing games was the 90s. Racing games really kicked it up a gear transitioning from 2D to 3D titles like Hard Drivin’ and Virtua Racing. Arcades we packed full of people lining up to play Daytona USA and Sega Rally Championship. And towards the end of the decade, as home console tech advanced, so did the games as they tried to implement more realism with games like Gran Turismo and Colin McRae Rally. Can Formula Retro Racing: World Tour recapture that magic?
We’ve Come Full Circle
Here we are in 2023 and in the midst of a glorious retro revival. Old games are being remade, and new games are coming out employing the retro styling of sprites, pixels, and polygons. Of course, the racing genre doesn’t want to be left in the dust. Horizon Chase Turbo and Hotshot Racing have had their time on the podium, now we have a new challenger for the top spot in Formula Retro Racing: World Tour.
Formula Retro Racing: World Tour was developed by Repixel8, published by CGA Studio, and is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch, and Steam. I played the PS4 version on PS5 for the purpose of this review. So start your engines, rev it up, get in gear…LETS GOOOO!!!
The Game
Straight off the bat, it is very apparent that this game is exactly what it says on the tin. With its limited and minimalist home menu, it’s a straight-up retro-inspired arcade racer with some modern mechanical flourishes. No fancy mechanical setups or parts upgrades, just racing! There are 4 game modes to choose from; World Tour, Grand Prix, Elimination, and Free Practice. World Tour is where you will spend the bulk of your time if you are playing on your own as you speed your way through 18 world-inspired tracks. Unfortunately, this is the way you will have to unlock tracks across all modes. While all 10 cars are available straight away, the tracks are not.
You unlock the tracks simply by playing the game. There are three difficulties on which to race each track, and the higher the difficulty, the more stars you will earn to progress. The tracks themselves are fairly distinctive from one another and may require a few playthroughs to learn them to net the highest reward.
There are two distinct styles of vehicles; a race car and a drift car. The tracks will often be best suited to a particular driving style. I found it was best to just see what works for you. Within the 2 categories, it doesn’t really matter which car you pick as they all handle the same as each other anyway. Pick your car, choose your colour, and its lights out, and away you go!
Buckle up!
So, how does it play? Well, it’s simple and not particularly hard to master and the cars handle pretty well. The AI can be overly aggressive sometimes, so just give them a shove and watch them burst into flames. Just be aware of your damage meter, which is fairly generous, to be honest. Even driving like Nicholas Latifi, you should be able to finish the race. Maybe not in Abu Dhabi though…
Easily my favourite mode and most challenging to play was the Elimination mode. In other games, in this mode essentially you need to be the last car on the track after others are eliminated one by one. On Formula Retro Racing: World Tour, however, this does happen, but as it does, the AI will get faster as well, further adding to the challenge.
One thing I really did like was the option to change the view to the cockpit. This allowed for more challenging racing and an emphasis on the sense of speed.
The fun doesn’t end there though. If you opt to play the Grand Prix mode, you can play couch co-op with a total of 4 players in classic split-screen. As you can imagine, after a few Heinekens, this can get a little bit dicey and competitive. Awesome fun though. I do not recommend drink driving though, even if it is virtually. I have failed many a time like that.
The only online features are that of a leaderboard. Here you will be able to see how your lap and race times compare with those around the world. I was pretty pleased with myself that I was in the top 10 at one point. I didn’t get a screenshot for proof though. D’oh!
Look & Sound
Easily the star of the show for Formula Retro Racing: World Tour are its visuals. The colours are garish and bright and the polygonal pine trees and panels will transport you back to 1992 in a flash. What a time to be alive that was.
The sound effects could have been done with a little more attention in terms of balance with the music. The music itself I thought was pretty cool initially. It mostly matched the mood of the track with a little synthwave here and there. Then I quickly realised how short the tunes were as they looped over and over…and over.
Conclusions
Formula Retro Racing: World Tour is a fun little game that will keep you occupied for an afternoon or two. Due to the nature of the game, it has that ‘pick-up-and-play’ quality and it executes it pretty well. Throw in the 4-player split screen and you have a recipe for carnage, which is always entertaining. Trophies are fairly easy to pick up too, so this game might be for you if you are a trophy hunter. At the start of this review, I asked if Formula Retro Racing: World Tour recapture that 90s arcade magic. Well, I don’t think anything can recapture that magic because that was simply a product of its time, but this comes pretty close.
Whether you are blasting through Berlin, speeding through San Francisco, or tearing it up in Tokyo, there is a lot of enjoyment to be had here. Formula Retro Racing: World Tour gets a solid 8 out of 10!
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A code was kindly provided for us to review this.
