New Star GP

Genre: Arcade Racing

Players: 1-2 Competitive (Local Split-Screen)

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Review:

New Star GP is an Arcade-style Racing game released in 2024 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. This game combines Arcade-style gameplay with some Simulation-style gameplay elements like managing a racing team and making strategic use of pit stops during a race.

Graphically, New Star GP’s visuals are a throwback to the early days of fully-3D Racing games, looking somewhat like early pioneers of the genre like Winning Run and Virtua Racing, but having the benefit of modern hardware to deliver silky-smooth framerates and a good resolution. I did notice the framerates briefly dip a few times, but overall this is a pretty polished visual presentation, with a synthesized soundtrack that perfectly fits the game’s retro themes. Here’s the Title Screen music for an example.

New Star GP is a game that imitates the trappings of an F1 game, as all vehicles look identical, though you can use in-game currency to upgrade what’s under the hood, as well as making use of your team to get additional upgrades. Managing your team is a part of the game’s campaign, and in addition to choosing the right team members to focus on, there’s even a bit of a Dating Simulation element to the game as you have to carefully balance your team’s happiness levels, and focusing your time on a team member can raise their morale, while their morale will lower if you blame them for your latest loss (hey, someone has to take the blame, right?).

However, make no mistake, the actual racing in this game is definitely Arcade-style, with your only controls beyond steering being gas, brake, and a turbo boost that refills once per lap. This game may possibly have the smoothest Racing game controls I have ever encountered, not only making it a joy to play this game, but making it so that when you mess up, you know it’s your fault.

While New Star GP’s gameplay is fairly simple, that isn’t to say it’s without nuance. Like Simulation-style games, you have to watch your gas and be attentive to the state of your vehicle as it gets wear and tear during the race, being sure to take a pit stop when you need to and sacrifice a bit of time on your current lap to ensure that you don’t suffer a disaster in the middle of the race. You may also opt to change tires when weather conditions change, a nice added touch.

What’s more, you’ll get rewards for accomplishing certain goals in each race, and while this tends to come in the form of a three-tier “complete the race”, “win the race”, and “win the race without using the rewind feature”, you also have other goals your racing team gives you, like using the pit stop twice before going on to win the race. Add to this some pretty good enemy racer AI that actively tries to block you when you’re looking to pass, and you have a Racing game that’s both highly accessible and has a surprising amount of depth.

Of course, I do have a few complaints. I wish there was more variety in the tracks – it would have been nice to see the professional tracks broken up with some more “natural” settings. I’m also disappointed that this game only features 2-player split-screen, with no online play. Contrast this with the Nintendo Switch version of Sega Ages Virtua Racing, which not only includes online play, but actually supports 8-player Split-Screen (seriously, more people need to check out the Nintendo Switch port of Virtua Racing, it’s outstanding).

However, while it could do with a bit more variety and its multiplayer options are severely lacking, New Star GP absolutely delivers with great visual performance and wonderful Arcade Racing gameplay skillfully combined with a few Simulation-style Racing elements. This is a game Racing game fans will definitely want to try out, and fans of retro-style 3D Arcade Racing should consider a must-buy.

tl;dr – New Star GP is a Racing game that combines Arcade-style gameplay with Simulation-style elements like managing a racing team and using pit stops during a race. The retro 3D look with smooth framerates combines with wonderful controls and some inspired use of a few Simulation-style elements to make this game a wonderful mix of new and old, Arcade and Sim. I wish there were more variety in courses, and the multiplayer options are depressingly slim, but overall this is a superb Racing game.

Grade: B

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2024 Game Awards:

Runner-Up: Best Driving/Racing/Sports Game

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