Review: Super Laser Racer (PC/Mac).

Super Laser Racer is a fantastic futuristic retro racing game from indie developer New Star Games. Set in the future and with bright trippy graphics reminiscent of Tron the premise of the game is simple enough, take your chosen racer to the track and fight your way to first place.

The game is viewed from an overhead perspective and for those of you old enough to remember, it very much plays in the style of Atari classics such as Super Sprint and Badlands (the latter perhaps more so given the combat aspect).

Each track contains a variety of pickups (which are essential to winning each race) as well as boost pads which temporarily give your craft a boost of speed. The pickups are largely offensive items (bar the turbo boost and shield) such as missiles, lasers and bombs and these are designed primarily to slow down your competitors and send them off track.

The track design is extremely intelligent and integral to the way Super Laser Racer plays. Within the outer boundaries of the track (the white lines in the pictures) sits a second outline which acts as what’s best described as an energy draining force field.

Should your racer stray onto or out of these boundaries it will become more sluggish to control and your shield will start to deplete. Weapon strikes work in a similar manner with your crafts steering becoming heavier and your shield once again depleting. If your shield depletes entirely your craft is destroyed and you are out of the race.

On each track there are areas where you can recharge your shield; and generally (although not exclusively) this is a pit stop type area near the start of each track). Manoeuvring your craft over these areas does however slow your speed so it’s important to be strategic in their use.

There are 12 racing craft in total (although initially many of these are locked); each one with different handling, speed and durability characteristics. Some are sluggish but tough whilst others nippy and fragile.

The controls are implemented perfectly and you will never feel cheated by poor input registration. Joypad support is also included and I had no trouble using an Xbox 360 pad (although you will need to configure this in the re-define keys section).

A track editor is also included in the game, a nice feature which I ‘m sure the more creative types will enjoy and I hope we will soon see some inspired designs emerging from the SLR’s players.

Super Laser Racer is very much a retro game but that doesn’t mean its not relevant today. The gameplay may be simplistic by today’s standards but it is extremely addictive.

The other racers feel genuine too, almost as though they are being controlled by another player who is also fighting for the lead and whoever wrote the behaviour patterns for them deserves a big pat on the back.

This does lead me to one aspect which was a bitter disappointment and that is the lack of any online multiplayer.

This game screams for it’s inclusion, and whilst the single player is amazingly enjoyable you’ll find yourself constantly wishing you were playing against your pals. There are online leaderboards present for lap times but I suspect for many this feature won’t hold that much interest.

Super Laser Racer is a brilliantly realised game; it’s superbly tuned and offers some superb retro style gameplay. It retails at less than £3 on either Steam or directly from New Star Games and at that price you’d be crazy not to pick it up if you hold any interest at all in this type of game style.

Should New Star decide to add in multiplayer at a later date though, this game would become an instant classic and one which I’m sure would quickly achieve cult status as well as a perfect score from me.

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