Adrenaline Rush – Miami Drive

Genre: Arcade Racing

Players: 1

.

Review:

(Note: This game is included in multiple bundles. If you want a breakdown of which bundles contain which games, check out this page.)

Adrenaline Rush – Miami Drive is an Arcade-style Racing game where players take the role of a car speeding down an endless highway trying to get away from the police while dodging traffic and other oncoming obstacles. For those who played the motorcycle game Moto Rush GT, know that this is a very similar experience, although this game is only $4 compared to that game’s $15 price tag. This game was released on Nintendo Switch in 2019.

The presentation for this game is mostly good but not great, featuring colorful, stylized, cel-shaded 3D visuals. These visuals aren’t very detailed and have somewhat blocky character models, and there’s some pretty heavy pop-in going on in the distance, but that doesn’t detract too much from the gameplay because the game gives players a good sense of speed and they’ll be too focused on what’s directly ahead to look too far off into the background. However, while the visuals get away with some poor quality due to the speed of the gameplay, the sound here is pretty good, with some decent car and environmental noises, and a nice disco- and funk-infused soundtrack.

As for the gameplay, this is all very simple and arcadey – players can veer left or right, and that’s pretty much it – this isn’t a Racing game about beating a time limit or getting to a goal first, it’s about dodging obstacles as long as possible. The game does manage to toss in some variety though – there are various pickups that bestow a brief upgrade of one sort or another, there are goals to accomplish and upgrades players can unlock in-between runs, and there are even different types of obstacles and events that gradually unlock as the player progresses, all to try to ensure that the gameplay doesn’t get too stale.

Having said that… these gameplay elements are all really just variations on a theme, and in the end mostly all a player will be doing is dodging left or right. There are a few objectives that require things such as side-swiping cars or driving on the wrong side of the road, but mostly this is a fairly monotonous experience. In other words, this game is just fine for quick sessions in-between more serious games, but you’re not likely to play it for very long before you want to move on to something else.

One more thing deserves mention before I wrap this up – Adrenaline Rush has an option to use gyroscopic motion controls to steer instead of the analog stick. I really appreciate this inclusion, and I’m sure that some players will prefer the visceral feel of turning their controller like a steering wheel, but I personally preferred the precision of traditional gamepad controls.

In the end, Adrenaline Rush is a decent Arcade-style Racing game, though it’s simple and repetitive. Still, for $4, this is a decent time-waster to play in-between other, bigger games.

tl;dr – Adrenaline Rush – Miami Drive is an Arcade-style Racing game where players speed down an endless highway being chased by cops and trying to avoid obstacles. It’s simple and repetitive, but still fun in short bursts. With its tiny $4 price tag, it’s worth a look if you’re craving a distraction.

Grade: C+

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