Title: Rise: Race The Future
Platform: Nintendo Switch eShop
Developer: VD-dev
Publisher: VD-dev
Release Date: July 22nd, 2019 (NA)
File Size: 1.7GB
Review copy provided by VD-dev
VD-dev, a developer basically consisting of just two men; Fernando Velez and Guillaume Dubail, hence VD-dev. The two originally worked under Atari/Infogrames and made many Game Boy and Game Boy Advance versions of (more commonly) racing games, such as the V-Rally series, and Driv3r. Their games would push those systems like none had ever done before (even Shin’en might’ve broken a sweat looking from a distance). On DS they would only make one game; C.O.P. The Recruit, which was basically an actual 3D Grand Theft Auto clone, unheard of on the system. On 3DS they would also make only one game; an original IP called Ironfall: Invasion, which was a Gear of War-esc 3rd-person shooter.
Then back on May 31st, 2016, they would announce their biggest project yet. Their first ever multi-platform game that was scheduled to launch on basically every platform at the time (including NX!); Rise: Race The Future. This is a racing game with futuristic-esc cars more or less. But, I can’t continue with the review without addressing the elephant in the room. Just two months later on July 22nd, 2016, Fernando Velez passed away. He was the programming mastermind of the two (Guillaume was more the 3D artist and designer going by what I’ve researched). Obviously this put the whole company into question since the V in VD-dev was gone. Eventually Guillaume hired Frédéric Zimmer (who previously worked at Ubisoft and Neko Entertainment, and just before on Ironfall Invasion) to takeover Fernando’s position. Rise: Race The Future credits both Fernando and Frédéric as the Lead Programmers. With that, let’s look at Fernando Velez’s last project; Rise: Race The Future.
The first race in the Challenges mode with the camera in the default position and in docked mode.
This game as said is a racing game that lets you race as futuristic cars. It’s not like F-Zero, WipEout, or Fast RMX, but the cars still look pretty sleek and FROM THE FUTURE! Anyway, the game starts with you choosing one of three save files that you can name (that’s neat), and then you can pick from doing Challenges, the Championship, or Time Attack. You can also pick from four difficulty options; Discovery, Rookie, Pro, and Legend. Rookie is the default option and the one I recommend personally.
In Challenges, you’re given a choice of 8 missions to tackle in a season. Here’s the trick with this game; your goals are literally only what are specified. Some goals include “Never be overtaken” (as in never drop a place), or “Never be last” or “Stay in first place”, “Never boost”, etc. Some goals are time-based as well. Anyway, the trick is that if it doesn’t say to win 1st place… you don’t need to! As long as you finish at least one (or all, haven’t checked) of the goals, you can finish in last place for all the game cares. Beating challenges can earn you these R tokens and some earn you points. Collecting enough of both unlocks the next season of 8 challenges.
The same course, this time with the camera height at its highest setting and in portable mode.
Now actually playing the game can be a bit difficult if you’re more used to games like Mario Kart. See, the game has a much more realistic physics system, like a racing sim (think Forza Horizon 2 on Xbox 360 which I have played). If you’re not careful, you’ll be sliding around, bumping into walls, and get bumped into facing the other direction very frequently. The key is to take things slowly. The other racers have to follow these control rules as well. My advice is to release the gas when approaching a turn if you’re going to quickly, so that you’ll do a better turn. When you feel you got a good straight line, you can boost with B where your rear flames turn green and you get this wind effect around the car and, of course, go much faster. This seems to last for differing amounts of time (seemingly until your speed dips to a point?), and recharges after a bit but it’s not clear how.
Before starting a race, you can pick from two cars, as well as a sticker to style them with, and the car’s color. Then you can toggle the auto break on or off, and change how the boost is able to be used (default seems to be usable at 125km/hr? It’s not clear what that means since you can’t just use it even above that speed constantly). Cars have differing stats, from more power (seems to be speed), to grip, stability, and steering. After beating a few challenges, you unlock a 3rd car that has more power than the first two, and seemingly better steering. Back to the other customization options, I HIGHLY recommend setting the camera at its highest. It’s so much easier to see the road ahead if you do.
Here’s the button customization menu.
I’ll explain the championship and time attack modes. The championship mode consists of 9 races. But don’t worry, you’re sent back to the main menu after each race, so no worries about having to do all 9 in a row or anything! You even can just restart the last race you did if you did poorly. Each winning race gives you 25 points with 225 total to earn. The funny thing is, if you win 7 matches in a row, you may end up being over 50 points ahead the 2nd place racer, so your win is in the bag! Time attack mode only really has you getting the best lap. The race continues indefinitely and each lap after the first has your best ghost race you. There’s a best time to beat too.
Visually it’s VERY good. It runs in native 1080p in docked mode and has some stunning use of color and lighting (especially in the Odera Crater course). The drawback (and unusual for VD-dev) is that it runs in 30fps as opposed to their usual 60fps. Still, it’s possibly the best looking racing game on the system in terms of graphics. It’d be unquestionably so if it ran in 60fps while also still being 1080p. Shame VD-dev didn’t include a performance option to change it to 720p and 60fps like in Fire Emblem Warriors. Portable mode seems identical and seemingly native 720p. The HUD’s slightly adjusted to fit the smaller screen, which is neat.
RIP Fernando Velez. 😥
Audio-wise, it’s good. The music has some guitar-playing tracks and actually do remind me a bit of Excite Truck. Both have similar soundtracks though they also feel more like “background noise” to help make races feel sort of intense, but without making you want to listen to the music outside of the game really. Sound effects sound alright, nothing that stands out really. It’s a racing game and it sounds like one. Maybe if this was by Sega we could’ve had some kick ass tunes from Hideki Naganuma (who left Sega years ago though) or something lol.
Overall this is a strong package and is actually cheaper than you’d expect. I would’ve expected it to be like $25 USD at least, but no, it’s actually $16.49 USD. Very good bang for your buck I’d say. Also worth noting is this game’s crazy amount of customization. You can change any button inputs, as well as a variety of sensitivity options as well. So yeah, VD-dev made sure to let players make their own adjustments to suit their style. Huge props to them for that.
You’ll Love:
+ Visually it’s quite stunning, especially in bright and sunny areas. Runs in native 1080p in docked mode and possibly native 720p in portable mode.
+ Gameplay is fun and fair. It’s interesting to play a racer with more sim-like physics and controls.
+ Challenges are objective-based and most don’t even require you to finish in 1st place.
+ Lots of customization options, such as for button inputs, camera height, etc.
+ Championship mode doesn’t force you to play 9 races nonstop.
+ Has screenshot and video capture support.
You’ll Hate:
– 30fps is an odd choice and is a bit missed in a racing game. But you’ll adjust to it quickly and enjoy it despite that.
– You’re basically sunk if you get stuck and have to turn around or reverse. It’s painfully slow to do so.
– In addition, the physics do take a while to figure out. This ain’t Mario Kart, that’s for sure.
– Unlock conditions aren’t very clear. Like it says play a stage in Challenges OR Championship to unlock… but it seemed to actually mean both.
Score: 8.5/10
