The late 80s and the early 90s were the transitioning times from 2D to 3D and we were seeing some of the best racing games during this era. One of the titles that most people remember from that era is Outrun and what I am about to say next will definitely surprise you. While we never got a modern Outrun title, Slipstream is one such title that takes the best of it and delivers a modern-retro experience for old and new players alike. Developed by a solo developer, Slipstream is indeed a brilliant racing gem. This is our review of the Xbox release of Slipstream in which we drift around beautiful tracks and relive the thrill of retro racing.
Slipstream comes loaded with different game modes for you to play. You have six solo modes and four couch co-op modes to play depending on your mood. Apart from the generic Single Race and Time Attack modes, you also have a Battle Royale mode where you have to beat a rival before the stage ends otherwise you will get eliminated. You also have a Grand Tour mode where you get to complete five connected stages while beating enemies. It has a time limit, so you have to complete the level before the clock reaches zero.
Another two modes include Cannonball which is a series of connected stages played in rally style and finally, you have Grand Prix which has five separate stages, and it is point-based so the winner is the player with the most points at the end of the series. Probably the best mode in the game is definitely the Grand Tour which is the most fun and is greatly inspired by previous racing games of the 80s and the 90s. The gameplay is non-stop as well, so it is the perfect time killer. At the end of each level, you get to choose the next level and the transition between the levels is exceptionally good.
Slipstream features beautiful retro graphics which are a testament to the hard work put in by the developer. The game runs on its own custom engine which the sole developer made of the title Sandro Luiz de Paula (ansdor). Slipstream runs at a flat 60 FPS for delivering a buttery smooth experience and I am really glad about this because Slipstream is best played with at least 60 FPS due to its fast gameplay. The game’s custom engine recreates the sprite scaling graphic techniques from the 80s and 90s, delivering an amazing retro experience. Visually, Slipstream is a treat to look at, and having played the PC version before, I absolutely love the visuals of this game.
The best feature of Slipstream is probably its gameplay which has a strong retro feel to it as well. When you start playing it for the first time, the game will instantly take you back to the early racing titles of the 80s and 90s with games such as Outrun where you must drift to turn and overtake enemies in order to win the races. Your goal in the game is to win and that is by combining two important elements of the gameplay. These are slipstream and drifting.
For turning, you obviously have to drift however for reaching top speeds, you will have to closely follow other racers in order to gain a special boost known as slipstream. When in this mode, you will share incoming air pressure with the racer upfront and use this to your advantage to reach top speeds not possible otherwise. Both slipstream and drifting play an important role in Slipstream, so you have to master both of these techniques in order to win.
Pressing R2 accelerates your vehicle and L2 is the brake which is also used for drifting. For drifting, you must release the accelerator and then tap the brakes and then quickly press the accelerator once again. This sounds easy however depending on the handling stats of your vehicle, this could be easy or really hard to master. Failing to drift will lead you off the road and you will end up hitting the sides causing a crash however for rectifying your mistakes, you have a rewind feature with the help of which, you can easily rewind and fix your mistakes. This comes in handy in various situations however it is limited, and you cannot abuse this mechanic.
The game offers five basic vehicles for you to drive and each of them has its own unique stats. There are three main performance specs that you have to watch out for before you pick your vehicle. These are acceleration, speed, and handling. Top Speed helps you to overtake racers, acceleration helps you get back to speed after you hit, or crash, and handling determines how quickly you can initiate drifts and change directions to get into new turns. Each vehicle performs differently so you have to adjust to its unique characteristics. There is a different strategy for each vehicle, so it boils down to your own gameplay style.
Depending on the game mode, you can also modify and customize vehicles in order to mold them according to your gameplay style. However, the only gameplay mode that allows car customization is Grand Prix. Other than that, you have to use vehicles with pre-defined stats. For making gameplay easy, the game offers you multiple settings that you can tweak in order to have a customized experience. You have options like Manual Drifting or Automatic Drifting which is the main difficulty setting of the game. Manual Drifting requires both brakes and acceleration for drifting however the Automatic setting just gives you the option of drifting just by turning.
Apart from this, you can also choose between three classes which are Light, Medium, and Heavy. Light offers low top speed and faster acceleration, Medium offers a balance between the two while Heavy offers a higher top speed with lower acceleration stats. Overall, there is plenty to customize in the game and if you get the settings right, you can have the best retro experience on a modern console. You can also customize visual filters such as pixelated, CRT, and NTSC to get even more out of the already cool-looking retro visuals. Coming to the Xbox release, I was disappointed to see that the game did not support the Quick Resume feature. The game restarted every time I switched back to it.
Final Verdict:
Slipstream is a racing game that is a real tribute to the retro racing games we all grew up playing. It is challenging, it has pixelated visuals and it has an amazing soundtrack to listen to while you are drifting around its many tracks. What I like the most about Slipstream is that while retaining the challenging gameplay of the early racers, it is also extremely accessible for the modern players with excellent 60 FPS crisp gameplay so everyone can enjoy this great game at their own pace. If you are a racing fan, I highly recommend that you give Slipstream a shot on the Xbox as it sits really well with the controller. It is also an excellent title for anyone who wants to give themselves a challenge and have some retro fun.
Final Score: 8.5/10
