Slip And Slide! Slipstream Is Out On Consoles Next Month

Who doesn’t like arcade racers such as the upcoming Slipstream? Who? I want names. Send them to me at ‘Quirky Introductions for a Gaming Site, PO BOX 134, Does Not Exist’, and I’ll be sure to read through them. As for me, I love a good arcade racer.

Slipstream is the hard work of solo dev Sandro Luiz de Paula (ansdor) and published by BlitWorks (behind the excellent Cannon Brawl). It’s worth mentioning that the dev built their own custom game engine that ‘recreates the sprite scaling graphic techniques used on 80s and 90s racing games to bring the real, authentic retro experience to modern hardware, taking advantage of the extra power to provide smooth, constant 60 FPS gameplay’. How cool is that?!

One of the reviews on Steam compares it to OutRun, but I’m picking up a little Chase HQ and Lotus Turbo Challenge 2. You won’t know the time it took me to write this post, but I momentarily paused to wipe the drool away.

Check out this whopping list of Slipstream features:

• The real thing: Built on a custom engine, Slipstream brings authentic 2D sprite-scaling graphics to modern platforms.
• Multiplayer: Local split-screen fun, up to 4 players!
• Time rewinding: Made a mistake? Press the rewind button to travel back in time for up to 5 seconds and try again.
• 20 Different tracks: Set on a variety of exotic locations all around the world… and beyond.
• 5 Playable cars: Inspired by classic models from the 80s and 90s.
• Accessibility Options: There are 3 difficulty levels to choose from, some visual effects can be turned off and, most importantly, the game speed can be reduced up to 50%, giving players more time to react, but keeping the game physics exactly the same.
• 6 Game modes:

   – Grand Tour: Scenic trip through five stages, with rival racers to beat and branching paths to choose.

    – Cannonball: Freely customizable race mode with optional traffic, rivals and other racers.

      – Grand Prix: Championship mode composed of five races, with season scores and optional car customization.

      – Single Race: Simple race mode, with customizable settings.

      – Time Trial, a solo race against time.

      – Battle Royale, an elimination endurance race mode.

      – 5 Car models, each with its own specs and playstyle.

• Original soundtrack with 9 exclusive songs by Stefan Moser (Effoharkay) .
• Graphical Options: Including Pixelated, CRT and NTSC filters, for a faithful retro experience.
• And much more: Mechanics such as drifting and the slipstream, rival characters and secrets to discover…

It’s all very well writing about it, but what does it look like in action?

Slipstream is out next month on PS4/5, Xbox, and the Nintendo Switch priced at $9.99 USD / €8.99 EUR. PC folk can get it on Steam now.