Retro Pixel Racers

Genre: Top-Down Racing

Players: 1

.

Review:

Retro Pixel Racers is a Top-Down Racing game released on mobile devices in 2012, ported to PC in 2019, and ported to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in 2022. As the name suggests, this game presents players with single-screen races in a pixel art style vaguely reminiscent of classic games in the genre like Super Sprint.

Unfortunately, the art style and course design doesn’t have quite the same classic feel of Super Sprint, but the game does look decent enough and the visuals work well enough to evoke the spirit the game is aiming for. Unfortunately, the tracks in this game all look samey, and only their layout really differentiates them. Also, this game makes use of a repetitive synthesized song that you’ll quickly tire of, and the only other sounds here are the race announcer at the beginning of the race, and collision noises – you won’t even get any engine noises here.

The gameplay at least works well enough on a fundamental level, though it’s on the tough side of things – your turning takes a while to register on faster vehicles, and slower vehicles have far too difficult a time keeping pace with the others.. However, over time you can get used to this game’s controls.

Unfortunately, the game gives you little reason to do so. There are only 13 courses here, each represented with a race against computer-controlled opponents, and then a second race against the clock. What’s more, not only is this game short on content, but there’s no multiplayer mode to speak of.

Insultingly, the normal price of this game, $10, is not only absurdly high for such a scant amount of content, but it’s also twice the cost of the game on other platforms. And while I wouldn’t be surprised to see this game repeatedly go on sale to exploit eShop pricing algorithms, even the bottom-of-the-barrel $2 price seems a bit steep for what’s on offer here.

It’s a shame that Retro Pixel Racers’ lack of content, samey visuals and sound, and absurd pricing mars core gameplay that’s not half bad. Unfortunately, with all of these issues, it’s hard to recommend this game over others on the eShop, especially at full price. Definitely look elsewhere for your Top-Down Racing action.

.

tl;dr – Retro Pixel Racers is a Top-Down Racing game with a retro aesthetic. The core gameplay here is decent, if a bit on the tough side. However, a terrible lack of content, repetitive visuals and sound, a lack of multiplayer, and bloated price tag all make this a game you should skip.

Grade: C-

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}

^{This month’s sponsors are Andy Miller, Exlene, Homer Simpin, Johannes, Talissa, Eli Goodman, Francis Obst, Gabriel Coronado-Medina, Ilya Zverev, Kristoffer Wulff, and Seth Christenfeld. Thank you for helping to keep the reviews coming!}