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Drifting to First Place! A Review of Victory Heat Rally || Chatsu Shorts
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In this episode of Chatsu Shorts, Satsunami reviews the new arcade racer on the block Victory Heat Rally! But does this game glide into first place? Or is there more pit stops than positives? Put your seatbelt on as we dive into the world of Victory Heat Rally!
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this game to review.
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Transcript
Introduction to Chatsunami Podcast
00:00:05
Speaker
Welcome to Chatsunami.
Nostalgia for Childhood Racing Games
00:00:16
Speaker
There's always that one racing game you remember from your childhood. For some, it may be the iconic Mario Kart 64. While for others, it was a Star Wars pod racer game. But for me, the one that stood out was Diddy Kong Racing. On the one hand, I have fond memories of soaring into the skies in a plane, skimming across the water in a hovercraft.
00:00:38
Speaker
in racing through a magical world of wonder and enchantment on the other. I also vividly remember nearly beating my brother in a race, only for his foot to, accidentally, hit the reset button on the
Exploring Victory Heat Rally
00:00:51
Speaker
console. To say I've had trust issues since then is an understatement, but nevertheless I found some casual enjoyment in the racing game genre. A few months ago I was lured back by the promise of a new indie racing game.
00:01:04
Speaker
making the laps online. A Kickstarter project that promised to harken back to the old arcade racers of the past. In its name? Victory Heat Rally, a 2.5D racing game developed by Sky Devil Palm and published by Platonic Friends. But as the hype for this game grew, so too did my interest in it. The question is though, does this game come first place in capturing the nostalgia of the genre it's trying to replicate?
00:01:31
Speaker
Or is it doomed to drift into last place? Before we get into this review, I just want to note that I was kindly gifted a free code for this game by Playtonic, so a huge thank you to them for giving me the opportunity to play the game early. But without any further ado, let's buckle up for a Thrilling Race with a Victory Heat Rally. Starting out, I must say I was surprised by how colourful and vibrant the presentation was for this game, especially with the Pixlr and Upbeat soundtrack. After choosing your save file to proceed with, we are met with 4 main modes to choose from, Championship, Arcade GP, Versus and last but certainly not least, Time Attack.
00:02:11
Speaker
While Championship serves as the somewhat single player narrative experience, the others are there to hone your skills on familiar tracks, as well as dunking your friends in a 4 player splitscreen mode, which honestly is a breath of fresh air these days. I love the fact that they put this mode in as it almost feels like something of a bygone gaming era.
Game Mechanics and Challenges
00:02:33
Speaker
But that being said, Championship Mode is where this game shines, with some dizzying highs and some rather unfortunate lows. Much like other racing games, Championship Mode challenges players to race in several tournament tracks before challenging their rival at the end. After winning against them, you'll be able to unlock and add them to your roster. along with securing a shiny new trophy. Personally, I thought it was an utter blast in the first tournament, leaving my competitors in the dust with the core drift mechanic which allows you to skid round corners and blast off. If you're struggling to envision what this looks like, imagine me realising that I have 5 minutes to get to the shots before they run out of half price snacks. If you can picture that, then you're not far off.
00:03:21
Speaker
While I ultimately did have fun with this game, I felt that one of my greatest bugbears was sadly at the beginning. After opening Championship mode, you are met with the cheerful newscaster Sally McGrawley, a name so incredible that I have nothing negative to say. It's just that great. We then get to meet the first trio of characters we can choose from to play as Chrissie, Clyde and Lana, each with their own pros and cons in the racing track.
00:03:47
Speaker
While some of the character designs are a bit hit or miss, I find them quite charming, and once again evoking that nostalgia in the arcade racing games that preceded it. But it is here where we're thrown into quite possibly one of the game's most baffling choices, as it places us in a hands-off tutorial. Not only are we showing someone else driving the car that we'll be in, but we aren't even told what controls we'll be using. It's the gaming equivalent of that meme where someone asks how to draw an owl, and after drawing a circle in step 1 produces a highly detailed drawing in step 2. It's a similar feeling here where, after showing someone else playing the game, you're put into your first race with no idea how to control the car. This is later repeated in side missions, but I feel it's less egregious there, as by that point you at least know what's going on. Furthermore, You can also skip these replays via the menu, but again that isn't made very clear and your first instinct wouldn't be to exit to the menu in a racing game such as this. I feel like it would have been beneficial to have at least something to prepare the players before putting them into the first race.
Gameplay Experience and Customization
00:04:55
Speaker
One other negative I want to touch on while we're on the topic is the difficulty spike that occurs later on. While the first tournament is a challenging, albeit easy task to land first place in, the game gets progressively more difficult, with some races fairer than others. The issue I have here is that all maps aren't made equal, and if you so much as make one minor mistake in some tracks, then you can lose the entire race, since some of the lengths of the tracks vary. It can be hard to get to grips with the track, and before you know it, you've lost to racer And yet, in a weird sense, this gave me the motivation to carry on playing. Was it frustrating getting fifth place after hitting my 50th barrier? Of course it was, but it just encouraged me to, as the kids put it, get good. So when I crossed the finish line with a sense of accomplishment and gratification, it was a brilliant feeling. One that I relished in as I watched my rival lament about their loss. Better luck next time, Racer 4. But all joking aside, One underrated thing that I think works in favour of this game is the somewhat simplicity of it. Don't get me wrong, it can take a while to get used to the drifting mechanics and the gameplay, but it is refreshing not having to look over your shoulder, as a comical weapon smacks you off the side of the course. Whether you win or not is up to your own skill, and the responsibility is on you to improve. By using different racers and car parts,
00:06:21
Speaker
You can boost the necessary stats to secure that coveted first place, but the simplicity of the game is a double-edged sword. While it's more of a nitpick than something I would say hinders the game, I think there could have be more customisation options in terms of the card designs themselves, as well as the paint jobs. The paint jobs are locked behind how many wins you get with certain characters, and while I appreciate they're there to begin with, it feels rather lackluster.
00:06:49
Speaker
There's also the issue of some minor visual and audio bugs I came across that I'm sure will no doubt be ironed out in the future. For example, during the challenge missions, whenever the Chief is explaining what you're supposed to be doing, the appearance of his text box puts the game on pause, except for the sound effects. As a result, you may have to suffer through the drifting sound effect whooping until you can proceed to the next box. In terms of visual ones, I find myself throwing so high in the air that I could see the entire map.
Final Thoughts and Recommendations
00:07:20
Speaker
Fortunately however, this has only happened the once so while it's more of a funny once off, I've seen one or two players go through similar issues overall though, despite my issues with the game. Is Rictory Heat Rally a game that I think you should buy? Well, if you're a fan of the old arcade racing genre, or just want to dip your toes into a retro style racing game with friends, then I would wholeheartedly recommend it. There's certainly a lot of fun to be had with this game, and I for one certainly had an amazing time with it. It's colourful, the pixel art is appealing and I must admit the soundtrack was super catchy. That being said, As I mentioned previously, there are a few faults I have to recall, from the poor tutorials and customisations, to the spike in difficulty and almost unforgiving nature of some tracks. But the reason I bring these up isn't to disparage the game, but instead to point out that these aren't exactly tough issues to iron out. Sky Devil Palm has created the basis for something special here, and the only way now is forward for
Closing Remarks and Listener Engagement
00:08:21
Speaker
them. To be honest, I'm excited to see where the game goes from here. So what did you think of Victory Heat Rally? Did you enjoy the thrill of victory? Or did you need to cool off after drifting off the map constantly? What are your thoughts? Please let us know in the comments as we would love to hear from you. But as always, thank you all so so much for listening to this episode of Chatsushorps!
00:08:42
Speaker
If you would like to check out more of our content, then you can check us out on our website, Chatsunami dot.com, as well as all good podcast apps. I also want to thank our Pandora Impatrons, RoboticBattleToaster and Sonya, thank you so so much for supporting the show. And if you would like early access special episodes and I hope Lethra of exclusive content, then you can check out our Patreon page over at patreon dot.com forward slash Chat Tsunami. Until next time, stay safe, stay awesome and most importantly, stay hydrated.