Neon Drive Review (PC Game, 2016)
I took a deep dive through my Steam library trying to find some new rhythm games to play. I’ve received a lot of codes over the years from my former life doing press at fan conventions. I also love a good bundle and never say no to a free code. It’s how I have games like Overcooked and Limbo on every game platform. It’s not a problem, I swear. Okay, maybe it’s a problem that I’m rubber-stamping the free code on the Epic Games store and Steam and DRM-free where possible, but that’s neither here nor there.
I went excavating for rhythm games and unearthed Neon Drive. This is actually a port of a mobile game from 2015 that has slowly creeped its way onto other platforms.
In Neon Drive, you control a car through eight separate levels, avoiding obstacles to the time of a New Wave/Synth beat. The controls are left/right (so arrow keys, a/d, or the directional buttons/stick on a controller). That’s it. Tap once to move over one lane on the road. The game shifts perspectives during the song. One moment you’re driving on a flat surface avoiding raised platforms, the next you’re dodging lasers from a spaceship.
For a game with only eight levels, there’s a lot of replay value here. First, the music is great. These are fun songs to move to and offer lots of layers of sounds to react to. Second, the whole game has this retro neon 80s aesthetic that hits me in the memories just right. They styled themselves after old arcade games (you even choose your level by selecting arcade cabinets) and it looks great.
Third, and most important, is the variations on the levels. There are five modes for each level. The default unlocked mode is Normal mode, which is the easiest. You get one free miss on an obstacle before you get sent back to the nearest checkpoint. You have to beat Normal mode to unlock the other modes. Hard mode is the same level, but faster and with no free mistake. There is only one checkpoint and that’s at 50% completion. Insane mode is even faster. Practice mode is at the same tempo as Normal mode, but resets you to the beginning for each mistake. The goal is to learn and master the level so you don’t need do-overs or checkpoints.
Then there’s my favorite mode. Free Run is the opposite game mode. You’re not trying to avoid obstacles. You want to hit the targets. You do not lose progress if you miss a target. You get to play these songs straight through and have a lot more freedom in how you move. It’s just a chill mode that works because of the strength of the soundtrack.
There’s one more mode available from the start. It’s called Endurance. This connects all eight levels together. There are no free mistakes. There are no checkpoints. You see how far you can go without a break through all eight levels. It’s the first rhythm game I’ve found since Dance Dance Revolution’s Oni Mode (where you would play through at least five songs, usually eight or more, and lose once you miss four steps in a combo) to offer this level of challenge. I like it.
The big drawback to Neon Drive is latency calibration. Neon Drive does have a slide you can manually adjust the timing between the graphics and the music, but it’s not precise enough. I much prefer rhythm games that calculate latency for you. It’s a simple process for the user. First, you tap to the beat. Then, you tap when you see the target. The game calculates the difference and adjusts the levels for how your pc/console is processing the two different elements. I’m not unfamiliar with having to manual adjust my timing to better match a game (hi DDR arcade cabinets), but it’s an unnecessary hurdle for the user experience at home.
Neon Drive is a lot of fun. I keep finding myself going back to it for a few minutes here and there to do some Free Run or try to get a better grasp of a song on a difficulty I struggle with. Some of the levels actually flow better at different tempos, so Normal could actually be the hardest option to play on.
Neon Drive is available for PC, PS4, and Nintendo Switch. You can save $1 off the price on PC by ordering at Humble Bundle.
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