Neodori Forever

Back in the 1990s, famed developer Eugene Jarvis once argued that gamers didn’t like going around in circles, but rather preferred racing games where you kept going after the finish line. The thrill wasn’t in coming in first, but rather seeing how far you could get before you were forced to stop. Unfortunate for him, the game he was describing was the lackluster Cruis’n USA, but that doesn’t mean that he was wrong. The new game Neodori Forever is a throwback racer that largely abides by Eugene’s philosophy, creating a cross-country event where we speed through all kinds of fun locations without a finish line in sight. But is the old school charm enough to win the race, or does this new racing game run out of gas? That’s what we’re going to find out in this review of Neodori Forever.

If you grew up loving games like OutRun and Rad Racer, then you’re going to feel right at home with Neodori Forever. This is a cross-country road trip that sees us picking up gas cans and racing rivals through more than 30 stages spread across ten unique environments. It’s old school fun that doesn’t have us going around in circles and skips pretty much everything associated with modern racing games.

Put simply: The goal of every level is to not run out of gas. The problem is that every time you run into another car or the side of the road, you’ll lose a big chunk of your gas tank. This is on top of the fact that you’re already depleting the gas little by little from just driving. To combat that, you’ll need to swerve around the six-lane highway picking up gas cans, which will fill up a small amount of your tank. If you can pick up enough gas cans and avoid most of the cars in your way, you’ll complete the level and move on to the next stage, which will typically be at night.

As you race through the levels, you’ll notice that there’s more than just gas cans lining the highway. Every stage has a bunch of coins scattered all over the road. These will continue to add up as you play (and replay) the stages, so it always feels like you’re making progress, even when you crash and burn. You’ll use these coins to randomly unlock the 27 cars. These range from junkers to race cars to something a little sportier. But don’t worry, there are no stats here. Every car handles the same, so all you’re doing is making a cosmetic change. No matter what, I love the variety we’re given here, and I liked unlocking the cars at random. I never knew what I was going to get.

Click For the Full Picture Archive

Beyond the coins and gas cans, you’ll also find lightning bolts that will increase your boost meter. This does exactly what it sounds like – it speeds you up for a few seconds, getting you that much closer to the end of the level. I bring it up because this is one of the only ways we directly control the vehicle’s speed. Neodori Forever is the type of racing game where the car is always driving, no matter what button you press. Similarly, instead of getting a traditional brake, we’re given a drift button that you’ll need to use to navigate the more aggressive corners. Boosting and drifting are basically the only controls we’re given beyond steering left and right.

Knowing that driving cross-country can get a little lonely, Neodori Forever makes the wise decision of introducing us to a wide selection of cartoony rivals. These will be characters that swoop in out of nowhere in an attempt to outrace you. This will come at the end of certain stages and act like a boss battle. Unfortunately, this isn’t as exciting as it sounds. In fact, I’m not even sure I would call it a race. The goal isn’t to outrace the opponent, but rather keep up. You’ll lose if you get too far behind, so all you really need to do is avoid the obstacles. And don’t think you can boost your way to victory, because your rival is designed to keep up, no matter what.

While fun, these rival races also shine a spotlight on what’s wrong with Neodori Forever. Like I said, it’s not really a race, since you’ll often win without being in first place. The rival will be a good car-length or two ahead and simply give up out of nowhere. They won’t get into an accident or pulled over the by the police, but rather just hand you the victory. And yes, that’s every it as anticlimactic as it sounds. It left me wondering what the point was. If we’re going to race, then I actually want to race, not watch somebody give up when they are clearly beating me.

Click For the Full Picture Archive

There are other things about Neodori Forever that also left me cold, such as the stiff gameplay and the loose drifting. The first thing you’ll notice is that the cars don’t handle how you would expect, which immediately throws you off. The game wants you to drift around the steep curves, but I had a hard time getting the hang of this mechanic. It’s also incredibly easy to run into things are smack the side of the road, especially when you’re swerving for coins and gas cans. I eventually got used to the handling and had a good time, but I wish there was a way to tighten up some of these gameplay issues.

On the other hand, I really love the old school approach. The throwback graphics look good and the locations are gorgeous. We zip through cities, beaches, deserts, forests and more, each with their own look and feel. By the time you’ve made it to the end, it will feel like you really did race across the country. You saw the sights and outraced your rivals, even if some of that is up for debate. It’s not without its problems, but Neodori Forever is one of the better throwback racing games.