Recently release by developer VD-DEV, Rise: Race the Future is an Arcade-style racing game. Racing games are of course a dime a dozen and to be honest I was a bit skeptical if this would be worth trying. Will a racing game set in the near future with new upgraded technology beat the competition? This is our Rise: Race the Future review for Nintendo Switch.
Let’s start with my expectation of the rise. It was exactly as described, an arcade-style racing game with fast-paced traces and some smooth looking cars. Initially, I dove into the game with the feeling it was just another racer clone with half baked controls. To my surprise, it was a bit more than that, rise not only had decently developed graphics and visually appealing tracks it reminded me of racing games from my past but with a twist. The arcade-style is nice though at times did get a bit frustrating as the challenges and races would often lead me into hitting a wall or very edge of a rock. A fresh take on the tracks was the different environments that changed physics during the race. Unlike most racing games where the level is the same throughout, rise changed it up by having water areas where you would use a hover style and the car would act more like a high-speed boat.
Challenges are how you obtain new cars, decals, and colors. These challenges though where fun, my frustration levels reached new time highs as they are tough to meet. You start off with only 2 cars with dramatically different handling. Players need to leverage these different cars based on the challenge and level type. With each season you finish in challenge mode you will unlock a new car and of course, it goes without saying that each car has different attributes. I do wish there were a bit more options, in the beginning, to pick from but I guess that is all part of the challenge. In total there are 10 Cars with 3 decals and 5 colors per car. Some of the options differ depending on the decal you choose.
With 4 worlds and 3 track types: fast, intermediate, twisty and 16 combinations per world there is plenty of diversity to give you great driving experience and of course trick you up. Several times I would feel I have a handle on the tracks then well, I would hit a wall and mess up my time lap. The levels are vivid and well designed, each with a mixture of terrains to aid in the ever-increasing difficulty. Also note that each world has 4 ambiances: day, sunset, rain, and my favorite fog.
Rise features 3 different modes: Challenges, Championship and Time Attack and 4 levels of Difficulty: Discovery, Rookie, Pro, and Legend. To be honest I found the game rather difficult just at rookie-level, do not worry I plan to improve my skills and demolish the AI which I might add loves to rear-end you and send you flying all over the place. More than often found myself getting payback at the expense of losing the race. During Challenges there are several scenarios: Win the race, Stay in the first place, defeat lap time and more. Some are honestly not too much of a pain where others seem almost impossible. There is a catch though each one has a different point scale that is awarded upon completion. To finish the season, you need to earn a different amount of points to unlock the next. Season 1 is only 9 points where season 2 is 21 points. Players will need to leverage their strengths vs points to earn enough to continue.
All in all, I found the game rather enjoyable as I could freely pick it up to play a few levels or challenges. It was nice to be able to play a quick race between cooking dinner or that small time between I need to go to bed and well going to bed. Would I recommend this game to others, yes but let’s be honest this is not for everyone? If you are simulation racer type you may find this game a bit too loose and wild.
A review code for Switch was provided by the developer.
