Neon Drive

 
Developer: Fraouta
Steam Release: May 2016
Hours Played: 3.0
Similar To: Audiosurf /  Distance / Last Knight / TEC 3001 / Tron Run/r
Rating: 5/5 Parsnips

GAMEPLAY
In Neon Drive you take control of a shiny car with just left and right movement conferred upon you while you're hurled at a constant speed towards a glinting horizon. You weave in and out of glowing slabs and obstacles in an effort to avoid collisions and achieve 100% completion. Managing to reach the horizon may unlock a checkpoint but is only half the story for you'll then be plunged into a further assault that will require razor sharp reactions as the course changes tack. These adrenaline rushes are designed in as many interesting ways as there are levels. In short, over a series of seven varying levels, developers Fraouta have concocted a glittering array of intensely devious courses to keep even the most die-hard runner fan challenged and enthused.

BALANCE & PACE

It turns out that, for each track, the first 40% or so is a mere warm-up to to keep you on your toes and energised for the more challenging sections ahead. This means the game goes through a small transition turning into anything from a top-down runner where you head down a four-track grid with oncoming vehicles; being placed on a narrow path on a small body of water; escaping from an alien spaceship firing lasers at you; or even turning your car into a spaceship and encountering asteroids in a space-invader style shooter! Some might think that mixing genres up like this takes something away from the game's roots but I personally found that every one greatly added to the gameflow making for a richer and even more well-rounded experience.   

PRESENTATION & DESIGN

Neon Drive does a fine job in fusing 80s retro with neon-lit landscapes of the future to create a slick runner that may just rival Distance for edge-of-your-seat exhilaration. Graphics are silky-smooth and everything runs like chocolate. On the homepage you are welcomed by a female cyborg who greets and waves at you while standing beside a line of arcade machines each with a level-themed picture. Alluring neon lighting abounds in pinks and purples. In the game itself venues gleam and shine as if placed within desirable and exotic locations such as tropical islands, the seasides of the Caribbean, the beaches of Miami or even the big cities of the far east. Although the music itself does not quite roll out with the well-timed beat of a punchy rhythm game, immersion is still greatly enhanced to a very high degree by its synth-pop tunes.  

PROGRESS SYSTEM

Thankfully, someone at Fraouta knew that locking levels is one deeply annoying way to shut out many players from enjoying a game's content. I am pleased to report that all levels are available and ready to play from the beginning. With a nod to its 1980s motif, the home-page features seven arcade machines lined up in a row; each one a level with three levels of difficulty (normal, hard and insane). Each one displays a percentage on its screen from 0-300%. This is simply the overall percentage score of each of the difficulties added together. The separate percentages for each difficulty can be viewed within the machine. You can jump into any level and do any difficulty at any time. Finally, a leaderboard for all  seven scores added together is shown as well as for those who want to brave the endurance mode.    

CONCLUSION

As a pretty intense runner, Neon Drive is best enjoyed in short bursts. However, its clean presentation, those synth-pop tunes and the all-round silky smooth gameplay do an excellent job in keeping the player immersed so dragging yourself away can be a difficult thing to do. Furthermore, weaving in and out of obstacles like a boss and giving the player the feeling that they're doing it like an expert with aplomb is surely the type of aim most developers of arcade-like games strive for - and the game certainly delivers this. Levels are fixed and not procedurally generated so putting in a few hours practice will definitely reap its own rewards. Finally, I found that using the arrow keys of the keyboard rather than the d-pad of the controller to be far more effective in achieving the desired outcome.