Born from the minds of Level 91 Entertainment , Inertial Drift is an arcade racing video game in which the player must tackle one of the many tracks available while trying to constantly improve his record . Basically there doesn’t seem to be anything strange, yet the player will notice from the first game that there is something particular. The curves are incredibly tight and the vehicle can be difficult to control. With a lot of practice the player will master the gameplay and understand which of the many vehicles available is the best to use, thus improving their playing skills.
Gameplay
Forget everything you know about drifting. Inertial Drift takes place in a retro setting of the 90s and is an arcade racer with super unique controls and an incredibly gripping twin stick drift mechanics. Inertial Drift gives you completely new ways to control the game, because this arcade racing game is a challenge – experience a driving experience that is really different from anything you’ve played before.
Unique twin stick control for precise drifting – with the right you control your drift. Intuitive controls for beginners and especially challenging for professionals.
16 Totally Individual Cars – Every vehicle is a completely different runabout with unique properties. Get behind the wheel and try to tame sporty station wagons, coupes, supercars and more!
The good amount of game modes is a very positive factor of the title which increases its longevity . The main modes are: Tutorial to learn the basics of game mechanics, Story Mode to compete on the tracks through the eyes of the protagonists. Challenges to complete different challenges and unlock new fantastic vehicles, Arcade to compete on chosen tracks and beat your own record more and more.
Finally, Grand Prix to face a tournament against the CPU, having to overcome five types of challenges that are also encountered in the other modes. Inertial Drift also gives players the opportunity to compete against a friend of their own thanks to the splitscreen mode or against players from all over the world in online mode.. Is there something missing? As for variety in this sense, you can’t really blame anything in this respect!
An innovative control system
What makes the game stand out is definitely its control system. It’s easy to wonder how fundamentally different a racing game can be from another – and I did too. But this, thanks to its double lever configuration , manages to place itself in a completely different category. It is unfamiliar at first, when you move the left stick and the car swerves slowly, but this is where the colleague on the right comes into play, whose function is to control the angle of the drift . Characteristic, able to surprise at the beginning, but pleasant surprise once assimilated.
You can’t think of effortless drift by moving the right stick. Each car is accompanied by its own characteristics; some require significantly less speed when cornering, others will need gentle use of the throttle or brakes to keep the back end in check. Most vehicles can be maneuvered as soon as you understand your driving style . After that, following a perfect drift. it will be very satisfying to be able to launch the car at an impossible speed and precision. Arcade physics helps the game a lot in this regard.
The game controls are quite simple. With ZR the vehicle accelerates, with ZL it brakes and the left analog allows you to move the vehicle. So far nothing different than other games of the same genre, but the first novelty concerns the right analog. Through this button the vehicle will start to drift left and right and, by combining the command with the left analog, the car will start an increasingly strong drift. The combination of the two buttons allows the vehicle to be controlled at will and will help the player become familiar with the terrain.
Another key part of the game is the player’s memory capacity. Inertial Drift offers various routes to tackle but in many of them the curves can be difficult to predict. The player’s aim will therefore be to familiarize himself with the vehicle and the game world in order to tackle the curves in the best possible way.
Storyline
Four guys have a dream, to compete in the “Summer Grand Prix”. Edward, Ada, Ibba and Viv meet and compete on different tracks to train and compete in the big tournament! Amidst doubts, errors and uncertainties, the protagonists make their way towards the final goal!
The story of Inertial Drift is another detail that sets it apart from the competition. Also being a bit of a visual novel, each character has their own path to follow during the game. Choosing between Edward , Ada or Ibba you will have the possibility to determine the initial difficulty based on how the respective cars perform on the track.
That of Ada, for example, is balanced for the player looking for a challenge in the media. Edward, on the other hand, gives away a jewel that is very easy to control. As you play through their stories you will unlock extra challenges which, once completed, will add extra cars and characters to other modes. Which means hours of extra gameplay available.
As mentioned before, the anime style is palpable in this game. Whether you’re racing through the neon city or down the snow-capped mountain, everything appears bathed in a glow of pink, blue and red, depending on the track selected. There are visual cues in every ride: lights flanking a heavy braking angle, painted roads hinting at how best to turn the car. The animation as the engine spins on the starting line, the car bouncing like a restrained bull about to break free, blends into that anime style. The completely unrealistic way the car swings while drifting makes it very cool.
Push the limits of drifting
In Inertial Drift drifting, style is as important as speed. This is also reflected in the stories told, whether it is about Edward who simply wants to enjoy the journey or an Ada eager to memorize every nook and cranny of the tracks. The game encourages you to enjoy the feeling of being able to drift anywhere, you don’t even need to win a match to progress. The story simply fits the way you perform, resulting in more of an experience than a stopgap to racing.
The progression through the story can, however, seem repetitive: you will walk the same path several times before you can continue. It’s useful, as the more you turn on a track the better you learn to ride it, but the lack of variety is perplexing.
The biggest challenge comes from the Grand Prix mode, in which you have a limited number of attempts to overcome five events. Each of them represents a pre-established challenge for the chosen car, with some goodies capable of requiring great commitment from the player. In this way, even those who are seeking to overcome their limitations will be satisfied as they embark on the endless road to perfection.
Inertial Drift is not your typical car game. Not just because of its unique control system and visual novel-like story, but because it’s not all about racing . Collisions are not an option when you go head-to-head with another driver, with gameplay focusing only on driving . But when you make it, when you nail that chain of perfect drift, you almost feel like you’re playing games like Rage Racer . It makes you feel cool, and that’s fine.
Graphics and Sound
In Inertial Drift you immediately breathe a deep 90’s breath. Both in the graphics and in the sound , the reference to that period can be savored bite after bite, meeting very well with the arcade fold taken by the game. The graphic style with “urban” tones leads the player to identify even more with the world of racing offered by the title and really creates a relaxing and pleasant atmosphere.
This also recurs in the style of circuits that in some tracks, above all, really encourage the player to plow the track . The sound between techno music and R&B is very reminiscent of illegal competitions or competitions outside the “canonical competitions”, further strengthening the “street style” of the title.
But…
Unfortunately, Inertial Drift is affected by the 30 FPS which in a racing game is not a lack to be underestimated . Fluidity in this genre is one of the most important factors but it is not something that can be reproached to the developer, considering that the potential of the Switch can be limited in this sense.
To be considered, there are also the tracks that are sometimes too long . These timings are not felt so much at the beginning as when the player repeats the race several times to overcome the proposed target or beat his own record. In the case of the last track, the duration is five minutes and this can be very heavy for the player in the long run. Another flaw of the game is the lack of variety of circuits. The Level 91 title from this point of view lags a bit behind other games of the genre, lowering its longevity. Having a good range of circuits is still an important ingredient in keeping the player glued to the screen.
What, however, is the element that most characterizes this video game? In addition to the aesthetic sector – which sprays the 90s from all pores – what I would like to highlight is the strongly arcade approach of the title. The matches are often about 1 on 1 matches and the player will have to face either the CPU , or another player’s record. The ultimate goal of the race is always the same (to be as fast as possible) and the gameplay forces the player to be as good as possible. The only notable difference on the core mechanics is the Duel mode, in which two players compete against each other trying to maintain the first position for as long as possible.
Bottomline
In the end, what do I feel like saying about Inertial Drift ? This video game with a clearly arcade flavor offers a classic and unusual gameplay at the same time based mainly on the mechanics of Drifting . Each machine has its own way of handling it and some of the proposed routes have a truly captivating design.
Everything is then enhanced by a nice aesthetic design and offline / online multiplayer further increases overall longevity. Whatever the case, Inertial Drift suffers from one major flaw: its lack of variety.Although there are many game modes available, you have the feeling of always trying the same one and the few variants fail to take away from the title a possible feeling of repetitiveness.
If we tried to take out Challenges mode, players might find their match with Duels , but they don’t manage to be as satisfying as they would like to be. In the end, the game isn’t bad and I’m convinced Arcade racing veterans will enjoy it… but overall I think a little more could have been done. Purchase recommended for lovers of the genre and for those who want to try an unusual game in the company of friends, but I recommend that you consider a discount.
You can find more of such articles at MYESPORTSGLOBE
Follow our Social media handles for more exclusive eSports News Instagram Twitter Facebook
