A vibrant racing game with retro-arcade style mechanics, Victory Heat Rally makes a great first impression with its energetic audio, bright graphics and kinetic sense of energy. Indeed, whilst the devs of Victory Heat Rally are based in LA, it’s very easy to assume that this is a Japanese-made game, so strong are those classic arcade vibes!
Featuring many stages and environments, the order of the day here is super-fast arcade racing. It’s a very bare bones setup in terms of the core game loop, the tracks are often short, and you can whip around them in around thirty seconds, with the high speed action being all about avoiding other cars and managing your boosts. The longer / better you drift – the longer the bonus boost you get coming out of the corner. It’s a simple and addictive setup that benefits from supporting up to four players in local multiplayer, all at a silky smooth 60fps, which is key here due to the sheer pace of the game.
There is also a single player campaign mode that throws some other events and mini games in the mix to spice things up, but it does feel like a trick was missed here - during multiplayer, you can’t work through the main ‘campaign’, nor can you unlock anything. This is an issue as so much is locked off at the start, you have to work your way through the single player stuff to unlock a fair chunk of content for those all-important multiplayer sessions.
When I initially jumped straight into some local racing action, it became swiftly apparent that we needed to play single player and get some extra courses unlocked etc. to really get the most out of the game, this did feel like a bit of a missed opportunity, as we quite liked the thought of unlocking stuff together whilst playing multiplayer. SUMMARY
Victory Heat Rally is a fun and pacey racing game that plays to its strengths with regard to the drifting, breeziness, and sheer speed of the action. That said, it doesn’t quite have enough of an identity – or depth – to make Victory Heat Rally feel like a ‘must have’ racer on the system.
7/10
Meridiem Games | Meridiem announces physical edition of Victory Heat Rally for Nintendo Switch
From the Website:
Power slide at breakneck speeds through a dynamic & vibrant 2.5D world, brought to life with pixel perfect visuals. Crank up the volume with a soundtrack featuring banging beats, scorching guitar solos & high octane energy that really bring the heat to Victory Heat Rally.
Select your star driver and become one with your machine. Challenge yourself & friends-turned-rivals across a variety of game modes. Experience the high speed action and non-stop drifting thrills either solo or in up to 4-player split screen.
SELECT YOUR SUPERSTAR – With 12 super-star drivers & their machines to choose from, who will you blaze a path to victory with?
SOLO OR AGAINST FRIENDS – Go for the gold in the extensive single player championship, jump in for a quick-fire Arcade Grand Prix, race against up to 3 friends, or take on the time trial mode and set some new world records.
WORLD TOUR – Victory Heat Rally features dozens of stages across 12 unique environments. From the sun-drenched beaches of Baytona Beach to the glacial tundras of Frostbite Harbor, you’ll be breaking speed limits across the globe.
STYLE MEETS PERFORMANCE – Express your personal style with exchangeable performance parts & paint jobs, assemble a ride that feels your own!
A vibrant racing game with retro-arcade style mechanics, Victory Heat Rally makes a great first impression with its energetic audio, bright graphics and kinetic sense of energy. Indeed, whilst the devs of Victory Heat Rally are based in LA, it’s very easy to assume that this is a Japanese-made game, so strong are those classic arcade vibes! 
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