SUPER IMPOSSIBLE ROAD
For once, cheaters do prosper
Remember the arguments about cutting corners back in the days of kart racers? The justifiable fuming as a rival ignores what feels like half of the track with an effective boost at just the right second? Well, in this intriguing indie racer, avoiding the road is the point. Here, you need to see how quickly you can get to the finish by foul means rather than fair ones.
The mode of transportation and environment is very different to the classics of yesteryear. You’re a fluorescent gyroscopic ball instead of a kart, and the thin tracks are in the stars, hovering over planets, spilling out in a sharp downward trajectory. The aim is simple: to reach the bottom as quickly as possible, utilising any and all shortcuts you can by just veering off the course. There are also checkpoints to hit that will save your progress and fill up a portion of the boost bar.
If that sounds a little too simple, then Wonderful Lasers does a great job of balancing risk and reward. Obviously, it would be too easy to just ignore the course and let gravity do all the hard work for you, which is why there’s a maximum limit of five seconds when you leave the track. Spend any longer off-track and you’ll respawn at the last triggered checkpoint. Races quickly become a mesmerising blur of reactions and quick-thinking strategy, as you gamble on dropping big distances, trying to ensure any mistakes don’t send you flying back too far in the race.
SPACE-GHETTI JUNCTION
Our first race pits us against the AI on Keres Lower Orbit, an easier track where the sides curl up just enough so that there’s a little wiggle room for error. Control over our vessel is ultra-simple, with steering and boosting the only inputs we need to worry about for this futuristic ball o’ speed. We play it safe for the first few checkpoints, sticking to the track before easing off the course and letting physics do the hard work.
It may only be a small shortcut, merely skipping a few corners, but we get a rush from successfully navigating it. The cheating gets even more thrilling when our next diversion sees us forgo a huge swathe of road, our screen fading as we get closer to the fivesecond limit, only for it to instantly sharpen as we clack back to the track.
While races are fast, they’re never too hectic thanks to a speed that gives us just enough control. However, even if we wanted to stay on solid ground, harder undulating tracks such as Solar Precipice make the ball buck and roll off the course, forcing quick improvisation. There’s a noticeable difference between handling on the ground and in the air, as constant readjustment to the demands of the action makes for rewarding variety.
MISSION ACCEPTED
What’s surprising is just how many modes you can expect when the game is released. Playing by yourself? There’s a career mode to keep you busy, as well as other arcadey gametypes for quick play. And they all subtly change your approach to the game in clever ways. There’s Time Attack, where you rely on short, snappy shortcuts so you don’t miss the time extension gates, and Survival, where any landing will do to ensure you don’t break the five-second rule.
More social gamers can also expect online modes to test their mettle against racers around the world. However, we’re most excited about its potential to become a future couchplay classic, all thanks to the simple premise, accessible action and four-player split-screen races. Even quick races with the computer have an abundance of heart-stopping moments as we watch an overconfident neon ball whizz past us, only to breathe a sigh of relief when our race position goes up again. Really, the only thing we think we need to worry about is how hard we’ll bite our tongue as the biggest cheat (Ben) romps to victory.