I believe that ViJuDa is a solo developer, which makes this even more impressive, as they’ve managed to create an incredibly tight and smooth experience that feels like they've whittled away anything extraneous to leave a lean, challenging, fun, and engaging arcade racer that has real character and personality.
This is the first game that I’ve played in the Super Woden series, and it seems to be a great place to jump in, although I can’t comment as to the differences to the previous Super Woden titles such as GP.
As mentioned above, this is a lean, mean, racing machine. There is a ‘Rally Edge’ (campaign) mode, along with an arcade mode, and also local multiplayer for up to four players (good!), but there are no online modes beyond leaderboards, not something that bothers me but worth mentioning in case you tend to do your gaming online.
The first thing that grabbed me as I booted up the game was the music, courtesy of DJ DeVito and DonutDroid. This is a high-energy soundtrack that took me right back to the early 2000’s when Japanese racers had music so good that it almost felt genetically designed for you to enjoy yourself, and it clearly needs a vinyl release. The smoothness of the menus was also apparent, as everything rocked along in a silky smooth 60 fps. There are myriad cars on offer, as well as plenty of tune-up and tweak opportunities.
When you get into the driving, things get deeply serious. Whilst this is an arcade racer, make no mistake, it’s not a game you will casually sail through with little effort; it requires concentration and focus – luckily, Super Woden: Rally Edge is so well-designed and engaging that this is not a problem.
The environments are effectively garnish for the main course, which is the racing aspect; what the game lacks in visual flair is more than made up for through the soundtrack, handling and general feel of the game. It’s a tough cookie, but all of the mistakes feel like the fault of the player and not the game, which makes getting the gold and unlocking new cars and cash that much more exhilarating!
Everything about the game is buttery smooth. Being a rally racer, it’s all about improving your personal times and making progress through the challenges, which get pretty saucy in terms of difficulty. Each race allows you three restarts, and if you fail, it’s back to the garage for a re-tune to see what the issue is...or is it you?
SUMMARY
With local multiplayer for up to four players, Super Woden: Rally Edge is a game that is just as great for a quick multiplayer blast as it is to session the single-player mode. With a gloriously energetic throwback soundtrack and a developer that very clearly has a vision and the skill to match, this is very much a recommendation from us here at GF!
8.5/10
🆒COOL🆒