PS5 Review: NeoSprint: It is a game

A top-down racer in the classic style, Atari and Headless Chicken Games’ NeoSprint might be something of an acquired taste.

Sprint for the old school track

I suck at racing games.

I’ve never seen the appeal myself, not even for Mario Kart if you can believe it. I careen into walls, end up driving backwards, and always come in last place. NeoSprint will not change my opinion, and if you’re a serious racing game junkie, it probably won’t make much of an impression on you either.

The graphics are cartoony and inoffensively unambitious. You play from a top down viewpoint, similar to an arcade machine, and can select from a variety of vehicles, based on their speed, handling, and so forth. It’s not like you’re comparing Bugattis and Ferraris though. We’re talking about the aesthetic of a racing car here, but the details don’t get into much more advanced than how well it handles and how fast it goes, as well as what colour you want it to be.

There are single and multiplayer modes available as well, with a campaign for the single player, though I didn’t notice anything particularly engrossing that would motivate me to stick with it. In the campaign, you enter a competition for a cup, racing other characters on their home tracks which grow more complicated.

When that happens, you unlock another cup, extra tracks, as well as additional assets for track building (more on that in a second). You move onto playing another character afterwards, with another set of courses, which you repeat until you reach the end.

You can also create and share your own tracks, which consist of planning a route from a template and plopping down a variety of stands, arches, etc. to give your track some character. If that seals the deal, then go nuts.

All in all though, NeoSprint is a very basic, ‘mid’ game. There’s nothing that bothered me with it, but also nothing that made me want to keep playing beyond my commitment to this review. Honestly, if it was a tablet game, I’d have more patience for it.

I have the sense that it was inspired by the arcade cabinets of yore too. I’m pretty sure I played a game or two like NeoSprint when I was younger at a video arcade, since I recognize the visual and gameplay styles. I wasn’t a big fan of them then, and time has not made me more favourably inclined.

This might appeal to a kid who is new to video games and might want to experiment with something new, or for Atari veterans who want to relive a favorite older style. For myself, you’d need to do something better than this to make me want to speed backwards down a racing track in last place.

A copy of NeoSprint was supplied to BrutalGamer for this review

NeoSprint
Release date: June 27th, 2024
Platforms: PS5 (reviewed), PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Publisher: Atari
Developer: Headless Chicken Games
MSRP: $24.99 USD