Developer: West Coast Games Ltd
Publisher: West Coast Games Ltd
Platform: PC, Switch
Tested on: Switch
Rally Racers – Review
It’s clear that Nintendo has opened the gate when it comes to indie titles on their latest platform, the Switch. Many indie developers now have the chance to present their work to an even greater and more diverse audience, which in turn means more exposure, revenue and possibilities for future endeavors if the game is well received. Rally Racers is one of such games developed and published by West Coast Games Ltd. Truth be told, while the game does a subtle attempt of cloning the Mario Kart series, in a poor format that is reminiscent of a mobile port, it also feels as if Nintendo should shut the door a little more and do some quality control of what makes it onto platform.
Story
Nothing to see here, move along. No really, while you duke it out with zombie-like opponents, who are part of a villain’s team by the name of ‘Droog’, you get no explanation on who they are, who this Droog fella is and why the hell you’re taking it up against them. You’ll get a minor explanation that Droog cheats, and you can convert your enemies by unlocking them, but that’s as much story content you can dig up.
Graphics
Need we say more than that this game is clearly a poor mobile project that made its way to Steam and the Switch? While the latter should explain it all, the game feels like a PlayStation 2 game has received a subtle rehash in terms of visible polygons and was released without finishing every other aspect of the title. The cars look a bit wacky and do have a certain atmospheric presence, the characters are hideous, the tracks are extremely bland, and the game is pestered by long loading times and frame drops, even though it should come nowhere close to the Switch’s capabilities. The menus are equally as horrible and also feel like a cheap mobile game menu was used to present the game’s overworld, and the other menus like the garage, your companions and the available drivers.
Sound
While the music can be annoying when playing the game for longer periods of time, it’s okay-ish and suits a game such as this. The characters make a few grunts and woohoo sounds, but other than that, there’s no voice acting or anything of the sort available.
Gameplay
Rally Racers is a Mario Kart clone, in which you’ll be racing for the gold, performing stunts and, for some reason, collecting flying oranges. Nobody knows where the latter comes from, but we decided to just roll with it. You’ll only be able to play the Quest Mode, in which you always have to clear three stages and then take on Droog, in one of his spooky races. Before you can actually progress to the next level, you’ll have to clear all three conditions, namely your finishing place, a specific stunt score and the amount of oranges you have to collect. Overall it’s fun that the game has different goals and collectibles, but it’s quite stupid you have to clear all three of them before you can actually progress and continue playing the next levels.
The garage, the drivers and the companions all require money or gems to unlock and truth be told, many unlocks aren’t really worth bothering. You’ll be able to upgrade your first car, and you actually have to, if you want any chance of competing with your opponents and beat them. When you look at the unlock prices of the other cars, they aren’t worth it, safe for completionists, or those who simply play the same levels over and over again, to gather some extra cash. The extra drivers are unlocked with gems, which you get from beating Droog, and they will transform said opponent in an ally or a selectable character. The companion system is quite fun an original, albeit somewhat redundant, as you’ll only have one or two useful pets. Each pet has its own passive ability, boosting weapons or points, which are useful to achieve certain goals to progress further in the game.
Overall the controls are atrocious, and feel like a poorly made arcade game. At times it feels like you have absolutely no control over your character. This is made worse due to the weapons that are added in the game, often making the car somewhat uncontrollable. It doesn’t help that going off-road almost immediately triggers the game to put you back on the track, losing precious time, if you simply took a small shortcut or a wide turn. In combination with the AI that sometimes just feels overpowered, and that never performs stunts to gain boosts, the game feels like a non rewarding challenge.
For a game that defines itself as a family game, it’s non comprehensible that there is no multiplayer mode present The suffering people would have to endure would be a lot more fun with two players, especially if they could work on different goals to beat the levels simultaneously.
Conclusion
While Rally Racers is full of good intentions and somewhat original mechanics in terms of the drivers, the companions and the cars, it’s clearly not done yet and should be shoved back in the oven. The game’s graphical prowess makes it feel dated, the lackluster controls are tedious to overcome, and the overall format and lack of multiplayer make the game feel like a rushed attempt of releasing a title on Nintendo’s latest platform. Overall, if you can avoid this one, it’s probably for the best. If you like simple challenges and Mario Kart clones, you might be able to pick this one up when it’s 90% off.
Rally Racers - Review,
No Comments