Retro Kart Rush Reviews

retro kart rush is a seriously fun time! the drifting, boosting, turning etc feel AMAZING! it needs some more substance to it though - the sound design feels empty, there's not enough tracks to keep me interested (could just be adhd brain but still this game could really use workshop support), there's no online multiplayer, and it doesn't handle steam input well (it detects both the steam gamepad and the actual gamepad at the same time, leading to weird things like select being drift on my snes controller). also the soundtrack, for the most part, is absolutely incredible consider buying this on a sale! it's super enjoyable

This feels like a nicely crafted homage to Super Mario Kart on the SNES. One that's light, breezy, and fun to play but lacks some depth and additional features to facilitate longer-term play. The handling feels snappy and responsive and it plays smoothly on my ageing hardware. It's a little limited in game modes; with single races, time trials and cups being the only options available - there's no battle mode or equivalent. That said, the simple purity of this game is something I do appreciate - it's a focused experience that embraces how things used to be. If you want to spend ages refining your laps in time trials you can, or you can just enjoy it as a nice pick-up-and-play title for solo or local play. The game offers 18 tracks in total, spread over 6 unique cups, each with 4 levels of difficulty, plus there's 2 additional cups which involve a random 3-track cup and one where you have to play all 18 tracks. Stars are awarded for winning cups and these will eventually unlock 3 additional racers. Local play supports up to 4 players which is to be commended, but there's no online play unless you use steam remote play or something like parsec to stream to friends. My main criticisms would be that the sound effects are a little lacking or flat-sounding at times, especially the power-ups and boost pads (although the soundtrack is pretty great), and that the time-freeze power-up is an annoyance; one that ruins the flow of the races when you are forced to a near halt when hit by it. There's also the age-old 'kicking you when you down' feeling at times, especially in the harder difficulty races. Played locally split-screen, it's been mentioned that the track in Coal Arena is harder to see due to it being too similar to the track edges, so maybe a little greater contrast between the two might be beneficial here. Like I've said, it's very much a Super Mario Kart love letter, and it's attractively priced, so probably worth a punt if you like the idea of some of that.