Review: Formula Retro Racing: World Tour [PC]

I grew up in a time when that was a new frontier to explore, when a game worked hard to convey what was important to the player, as well as provide a fun and enjoyable interface. Repixel8’s sequel to their Formula Retro Racing, Formula Retro Racing: World Tour is a game that harkens to this era.

Formula Retro Racing: World Tour is a racing game that dials it down to the very basics. Smooth visuals, fast cars, a variety of tracks, and several game modes to choose from. The game has the appeal of a racing game that is easy to understand and play without anything terribly complicated like vehicular maintenance or part upgrades. It’s racing, pure and simple. The game mode is entirely up to the player.

Rolling STAAAAART

Formula Retro Racing: World Tour has four game modes: Arcade, Grand Prix, Elimination, and Free Practice. Arcade puts players through several levels back-to-back for first place, just like the arcade racing games. Grand Prix puts players in a tournament-style racing mode to earn points. Elimination has players drive as fast as possible on each lap to avoid being knocked out. Free Practice is self-explanatory.

Racing feels tight and refined. Vehicle handling changes depending on the vehicle. Some cars are great on speed but not on handling. Some drift well into curves but aren’t so great with top speed. There is a large variety to choose from that go beyond the traditional NASCAR or Formula One car. There isn’t deep customization with each vehicle other than to choose paint schemes, keeping the focus squarely on racing.

The Future is here

As the screenshots suggest, Formula Retro Racing: World Tour adopts a colorful but polygonal presentation. Cars, tracks, and environments are reduced to simple shapes and structures. Playing the game feels like going back in time to the days of the Sega 32X and Sega Saturn, when delivering true 3D to consoles had just begun to take shape and form. It’s a viewpoint that works extremely well as the world has a vibrant and lively look to it.

Formula Retro Racing: World Tour is a strong and solid racing title and clearly an ambitious one. With all the enthusiasm that has been poured into the game, there are some noticeable drawbacks. It seems a little too simple. There’s a lot or color and plenty of environmental settings but I could not help but feel more outlandish creativity could have been added. Tracks with circle loops or unexpected obstacles could have kept things easy. Even a space station level could have been a nice throwback to the more outrageous level designs seen in decades before.

Formula Retro Racing: World Tour also has a destructibility mechanic where players can ram and destroy each other’s cars. This is a fun mechanic and should make for more chaotic races in multiplayer, but it feels like a slapped-on quirk then a realized mechanic. It feels as if the game could have had more to offer. Perhaps a weapons gameplay mode or a better realization of using the destruction of the cars.

Final Thoughts

Racing feels great and silly smooth. At high speeds, courses move fast and smooth. Formula Retro Racing: World Tour can become a challenge if one wishes to or keep it casual. It excites with its charm and simple game play that makes it great for all players, especially newcomers to the genre.

Formula Retro Racing: World Tour is available now on Switch, Xbox One, PS4/5 and PC. It was reviewed on Steamdeck thanks to a key generously supplied to Mega Visions by Repixel8.