Developer: ViJuDa, East Asiasoft Limited
Publisher: ViJuDa, East Asiasoft Limited
Platform: PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Tested on: PS5
Super Woden GP II – Review
After a very disappointing release of Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown, we were hoping a new fun racing game would be on the horizon. While technically not a brand-new release, Super Woden GP II felt like it could keep us entertained for a while. This old-school top-down arcade racing game managed to push all the right buttons, even though it could use a few minor updates. Read on to find out what we think about this indie racing experience.
Story
There is absolutely no story present in Super Woden GP II. You simply choose to dive into some free racing options or you delve into the campaign-like mode. There’s not much more to the experience, and it’s all about the gameplay after all. We didn’t mind the absence of a story here, but perhaps a bit of flavor text here and there could have done the trick when progressing through all the different stages.
Graphics
Even though the visuals may look a bit simplistic, Super Woden GP II actually looks very nice. The game has an impressive number of cars to collect, all with their distinct features, and all of them come with different color patterns. The stages are also varied, and there are also quite a few backdrops. The clutter in the stages does add a nice touch, and even the pixelated spectators make everything feel much more alive. You’ll kick up a bit of dust when leaving the track, and all in all, everything meshes well together. Of course, the game never pushed our hardware to the limit, but here we didn’t mind the less is more approach.
The only negative aspect for us was perhaps the menus. These are clunky and slow, and look like they would be better suited for a mobile game. We would have perhaps loved a simpler menu. In general, the menu feedback is also fairly unclear.
Sound
The game’s sound design is great. The cars sound quite realistic, even though all the cars in the game do not represent actual existing car brands. The upbeat music is the real star of the show here, and you can actively switch music tracks during races, which is certainly a plus. Even though we heard the same tracks over and over again during our playthrough, the music never got annoying, and it got us in the mood to put the pedal to the metal.
Gameplay
Super Woden GP II is a top-down arcade racing game with a grindy progression curve. From the main menu, you can dive into the arcade and time trial modes, but you’ll probably have a lot more fun playing through the so-called ‘go race’ mode. The latter is basically a career mode in which you’ll have to unlock events in sequence in order to rake in the cash, buy new cars, and upgrade your current car park. It’s all very straightforward, but the game feels extremely grindy at the beginning. You’ll notice that you only have one or two events available, and if you don’t finish in the first place, you’ll be playing the same events over and over again.
Luckily, the game does have different difficulty settings, but even then, Super Woden GP II can be quite unforgiving. Even on the lowest difficulty settings, some of the game’s AIs are very tenacious and will make little to no mistakes when on the track. The strong AI drivers can be forgiven, as the controls for the game are very intuitive and most cars drive buttery smooth. It’s also very rewarding to beat tough races after a few attempts. Even so, as mentioned above, more events should be available from the start, and there should be a bit more leeway in terms of unlocking new ones. Earning money is also a slow process, and you won’t be able to buy any new cars quickly, which is a shame. Super Woden GP II has an impressive roster of fictive cars. The game does start rewarding you with more and more free cars the further you progress, which is also a great motivator to keep pressing onward. We do have to mention that the upgrade menu is a bit slow, and there’s actually a small loading time for each upgrade you perform.
What truly proved to be the icing on the cake was the split-screen racing option. You can race with up to four players locally, which is simply awesome. Lately, when racing games offer split-screen it’s always a maximum of two players, and we still feel like racing games are the ultimate couch co-op experience. This for us is already a key selling point. That being said, the split-screen is limited to the cars you have already unlocked, so you might need to do some grinding first.
Conclusion
While not perfect, Super Woden GP II is a hidden gem in the arcade racing game scene. We loved the overall simplistic controls, the varied collection of cars, and of course, the split-screen options. The simple graphics also did the trick for us, and Super Woden GP II proved to be the ideal racing experience in between bigger titles. Our only issue was that the AI was sometimes a bit too unforgiving. If you’re looking for a simple racing experience with a slow but rewarding progression curve, we can easily recommend this one.
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