Written by Patrick Orquia
Title: Rise: Race the Future
Developer: VD-DEV
Publisher: VD-DEV
Genre: Racing, Arcade
Number of Players: Up to 2
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: July 22, 2019
Price: $16.49
Rise: Race the Future… this title made me expect that it would be some over-the-top racing game set in the future, with dazzling neon lights and synthwave music. Spoiler alert: no, this game is really not that kind, but it does play very well and has a really good amount of content.
The race courses for either modes are well-designed and the physics engine of the game is solidly built. Cars can crash at each other and they will behave realistically when they do, but there are no visible damage seen nor cars getting completely immobilized. You can also use nitro boost to make your car go on a short burst of speed, but on a limited capacity, so you better be wisely decide on when and where to use it.
I guess that the thing make this racing game futuristic is that the cars also turn into hovercrafts when you cross over water. The floaty controls can become even more so over water, mind you, so you better be more careful while driving, as most of the twists and turns in the game require such high precision that if you screw up, you will get punished big time and depending on the severity of your mistake, it would be just better to restart the race instead of continuing.
That is pretty much it for the game. It doesn’t really introduce any new, revolutionary gameplay element to the racing genre. The cars turn into hovercrafts momentarily as they cross bodies of water, the game’s “race the future” element, but you can also see that on Mario Kart 8, so no big deal. But one cool thing that this game does that not a lot of other games on the Switch does is giving the players the option to either prioritize performance or graphics. If you prioritize performance, the framerate goes up to 60fps, but the resolution takes a hit. You will also see some very obvious pop-ins as the race goes on, but that doesn’t really matter much. It’s a racing game, anyway. If you prioritize graphics, the framerate will be locked at 30fps, but the visuals are mostly uncompromised: no more pop-ins, and everything looks much more details, with some motion blur added to make the emphasize speed. For me, I stick with performance over graphics. I take 60fps over better graphics anytime. By the way, the game already looks really good even on performance mode, some pop-ins here won’t hurt.
Overall, Rise: Race the Future is one solid racing game. It looks good, even better than a good number of games on Switch, plus it has a good soundtrack to really put you on a driving mode. It has a good level of challenge all throughout and the good amount of content. It could be frustrating at times, trying to beat certain time restrictions or meeting some victory conditions, but if you put a in the hours to hone your driving skills, you will overcome the challenges. There may be some better racing games out there on the eShop, yes, but maybe wait for a sale and give this game a chance. It’s really good, and I hope you enjoy it like I did.
REPLAY VALUE: High
PROS
- Awesome visuals, lush details on environment, water animation, and particle effects, even on medium visual setting
- Cool soundtrack
- Solid game physics
- Wide customization option
- Multiple difficulty settings that you can change between races without losing progress
- Option to prioritize performance over graphics is a welcome feature
- Plays well on handheld
- Very good use of HD Rumble
- Has a good amount of challenge and content
CONS
- Pretty bland in execution: the game doesn’t really offer anything new to the genre
- Some victory conditions are hard to achieve, especially during the early parts of the game and thus can make the game very frustrating
- Some turns require pin point accuracy and time; miss a turn by just a fraction of a second and you may end up hitting a wall or get thrown off course
- Floaty controls at times, especially when you are driving over bodies of water
- No online multiplayer
RATING: 3.5/5 fast and the futures
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