Retro Drive: Revamped Review (Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S & PC)

Against ultraviolet skies and sun-kissed horizons, hot pink supercars and overly flamboyant settings, Retro Drive: Revamped feels like the near-perfect love letter to classic eighties arcade gaming. Billed with a dream-like aesthetic and a fluid yet not-so-seamless feel to its signature driving mechanics, Retro Drive leans into the heart of pixel-crafted poetry, not with the intent to reinvent the wheel or modernize old habits, but to provide a window into the realm of imperfections. It might not always look good, or even feel that great to romp around in, for that matter. But then, Retro Drive isn’t a reflection of perfect architecture; it’s an ode to old blueprints and dated mechanics. And if you think that sounds a little poor, especially in the eye of modern standards, then you can either put it down as misspent youth or the simple fact that “you just weren’t there, man.” It wasn’t perfect, but oh boy was it glorious.

There’s a lot of nostalgia rooted deep within each and every crag and crevice in Retro Drive: Revamped, which clearly indicates that, as an independent studio, a lot of research was initially conducted before setting the asphalt ablaze with the rich neon-lit goodness. And I can quite easily acknowledge that, too. Sure, it’s old and it’s frail, and it doesn’t hold a candle against most of the big-budget racing games on the circuit. But as I said, Retro Drive isn’t a moniker among kings; it’s a slip down memory lane—a reminder, if you will, that video games didn’t need to be perfect in order to be playable. And if Retro Drive: Revamped is anything at all, it’s a memory that has been well and truly preserved and immortalized in a way that resonates with both elder generations and eighties enthusiasts alike. I’d be a fool to argue with that.

Due to Retro Drive being steeped in old habits and wonky components, it doesn’t come as too much of a surprise that it also fosters a lot of loose screws. From a visual standpoint, it is what it is: a dated canvas with an eighties twist, with all of the ultraviolet warts and pixelated doohickeys that make any old-school gamer feel their age a lot more than they’d dare admit to. It isn’t that it looks bad; it’s that it gives off a sickeningly eccentric vibe that can make your skin shudder. But that isn’t a bad thing. No, because if you enjoy the eighties aesthetic and all of the neon bits and pieces, then it’s a dreamscape for the senses. But it comes at a price — that being an extraordinary palette with clean and slick transitions and graphical fidelity. It doesn’t have any of that. But what it does have, thankfully, is a good sense of what made the OG arcade racing games so immensely fun.

Although without the weight or the added complexity of a full-fledged campaign or lofty single-player mode, Retro Drive: Revamped does crank the throttle with a ton of great features, with the inclusion of a nifty multiplayer mode, vast vehicle customization tools, and a treasure trove of classic, albeit pulpy movie memorabilia and VHS collectibles, to boot. Could it do with a little extra meat on the bones? Perhaps, but then it wouldn’t be a love letter to liminal arcade games; it would be an overly ambitious project with a god complex. Of course, I wouldn’t turn down a little extra content, but I can certainly appreciate what it does have and what it tries to convey with its pocket-sized portrayal. Maybe that’s enough.

In the case of the gameplay facets that Retro Drive adopts, what you see is what you get: a simple racing experience that either involves strafing to the left or right and actively using precision to tackle various on-road obstacles. Frankly, it doesn’t go much further than that. In other words, if you’ve played at least one racing game from the eighties, then you’ve more or less played Retro Drive: Revamped. But hey — at least it’s authentic and in sync with its source material. You can’t turn a blind eye on that.

For the record, I don’t think that Retro Drive is a perfect game, nor is its Revamped counterpart, for that matter. Clearly, there’s still a good amount that could do with a little extra fine tuning here. But it’s the little things that matter most in this case, like the synthwave anthems and the classic feel-good driving. It might not boast the technical prowess of a brilliant racing game, but I can give credit where credit is due and happily call it for what it is: a simple tribute to the timeless classics. It won’t be for everyone, but for the select few who still share an iron heart for eighties music and shoddy arcade video games, it ought to feel like a real feast for the soul. Swings and roundabouts, really.

Verdict

Retro Drive: Revamped takes us back to the root of old-school arcade racing with a faithful time capsule that captures the beating heart of a neon-soaked world of eighties pulp and movie memorabilia. It might not be the cleanest arcade racing game on the block, and it might lack the weight of a lofty campaign with all of the usual modern-day fixtures. That said, for what it does provide in its bite-sized love letter to the heyday of arcade gaming, it serves as a fantastic tribute with a soulful message that ought to resonate with its target demographic on a deeply personal level. Maybe you can’t put a price on that, maybe you can.

For the sake of waxing your desire for nostalgic beauty and old-school arcade racing tropes, I’d suggest taking a chance on Retro Drive: Revamped. It might not alter your love for modern-day racing franchises that cram a lot more into the chassis I’ll admit. Yet, for a quick romp through the neon-lit corridors  memory lane, you could certainly do a lot worse than Retro Drive. Take from that what you will, folks.