Dash is Atari’s newest retro sequence to obtain a contemporary coat of paint, and it is arrived within the type of NeoSprint. This recent spin on the writer’s old skool racing sport comes out of the workshop with a pleasing feel and appear and a few neat new options, however there are nonetheless just a few spots that wanted somewhat extra consideration.
That is an isometric racer, by default providing you with a view of your complete circuit as you race your tiny automobile round. A zoomed-in view that focuses in your automobile can also be an possibility, although we desire the locked view of the entire observe. Both method, the primary thrust of the sport sees you navigating these tight, typically very advanced programs, whether or not within the marketing campaign mode, free races, or time trials. The dealing with could be very simple to grasp however there’s positively a ability to enjoying this effectively.
A part of that’s accounting for the sport’s typically irritating physics. AI drivers don’t have any qualms about ramming into you, and you may very often find yourself in your facet or snagged on the obstacles. It is surprisingly unforgiving at instances. Not serving to issues is that a number of the circuits have awkward viewing angles that, within the midst of a race, could make it laborious to parse what is going on on.
Luckily, although, these points aren’t fixed, and customarily the motion is enjoyable, easy, and interesting. Whereas the racing itself could be a little on the simple facet at instances, the impediment programs are a lot more durable, peppering phases with oil slicks and cones to dodge. Time trial challenges might be equally troublesome, so there’s lots right here to grasp. Sadly, exterior of some leaderboards, on-line play is lacking from the sport, so competing with others is pretty restricted — though the sport does characteristic native 4-player racing.
Maybe the most important addition is the observe builder, which affords a reasonably intuitive strategy to create your individual races utilizing chunky grid items. These might be shared with different gamers, successfully providing you with tons extra tracks to grasp than the official ones.
NeoSprint is a good refresh of an aged system, with easy however enjoyable racing and a few neat new options. Sadly, the presentation is somewhat underwhelming, and one or two points seem within the rear view mirror just a bit too usually.