While you are reading this sentence, 17.3 game developers will be trying to do something like "Circuit Superstars" and failing. Admittedly, it was a rather long sentence. Still, the point I want to make is clear.

Every racing game press release since 1997 has promised the perfect blend of arcade accessibility and the depth of a simulation that is gradually mastered through continuous effort. Not so. Vancouver-based Original Fire Games has released its debut game under the Square Enix Collective's Indie Initiative, and it's a game that's as much a part of the game as it is a part of the game.

If you're a veteran of many a Micro Machines campaign with your feet crossed in the 16-bit era, or, honestly, if you've simply seen the screenshots and checked out the isometric camera, you'll have a feel for the driving. What you don't know until you've done your first race is the amount of finesse that has gone into that adorable little vehicle. To go fast here is to pick the perfect racing line and commit to it, to keep all inputs smooth, to maintain momentum as you grip James May's M&S Autograph blazer that got a little too close during the Grand Tour shoot.

I return to this machine every day and find new ways to get even more speed out of it. It makes me want to redo every racing series (12 series). I am amazed at myself that this has been my favorite racing game for so many years.

As the laps are completed, the track surface is covered in rubber, revealing thick tar-like stripes of freshly laid tires that improve grip and lap times. Conversely, in events where tire degs are effective, the pace slows down surprisingly quickly if you don't focus on a moderate driving style, minimizing throttle and steering under braking. Can you lift up and coast to the end, or do you need to make a pit stop? In a game like this, remember.

Original Fire has found a style of track design that works really well with both camera perspective and vehicle physics, and the 12 circuits (18 layout variations in total) present a long-term challenge. Mastering the lines that work well online and fine-tuning their muscles in the quest for time trial leaderboard perfection.

Being an indie, and an indie debut, one could forgive its light online proposition. Still, it's a shame that even with the online lobby feature that lets you buddy up in teams of four, you still have to race in a public lobby with up to eight strangers and can't create event types from scratch Since the Early Access launch in March, the community has been asking for more lobby creation. control, but when the servers find people waiting to race against our party, we are still forced to face the danger of strangers.

To make matters worse, we found that some races were so laggy that they could not be competed. The slowest connections on the server seem to lower everyone's ping, and it's disheartening when you get ahead of the first turn only to find out that you actually hadn't run the first turn yet.

That is not to say that strangers are bad people. Partly because of the unforgiving collision physics, partly because of the game's inherent joviality as you whiz through the Aardman-animated set in your little vehicle, but mostly because they're sportsmen who are about three seconds a lap faster than you. Early Access was released in March.

The game itself is fairly laissez-faire about the act of racing. Cutting corners incurs a short time penalty, and you can tell exactly how much you will be penalized for cutting by observing the marker pole at the end of the apex. There is no penalty for contact, only the time lost when both sides play silly fools and inevitably go off course. It may not always feel fair, but every online racer does." At least the marshalling of the race is clear and consistent.

Offline, the race takes on a different aspect: AI drivers will always tangle with you and your lighter-looking car to their advantage, so the responsibility to find clean overtaking opportunities and perform in the hot lap sessions of qualifying that precede most races The responsibility to do so is very high.

Oddly enough, there is no mid-series save feature for offline races. The community has been asking for this feature for a while, but their prayers have not yet been answered; it's not like running one season of F1 2021 in one sitting, but it's still an inconvenience.

With no career mode as is typical of modern racers, the long-term proposition in this title is to beat the increasingly ruthless AI in each series, mastering 12 different handling models in the process. With the naivete of a newborn baby, I chose the Superstar AI difficulty level for my debut in the Pitino Cup. Within three minutes of the start, I was lapped. Lucky for them, because their racecourse left much to be desired.

They can make mistakes independent of your driving and create a pile-up collision that you can either capitalize on or be recovered from. This is a good thing. However, given their tank-like physical characteristics, these AI mistakes can cost you a huge and desperate amount of time and shatter your hopes of victory with a single blow. Solo races are best viewed as training material for clean online behavior.

If you ask me, some real scary talent has emerged in Original Fire Games. With cute cars, arcade camera perspectives of yesteryear, and amazing sim touches, somehow the all-out racing sim feels like a tax return.