Review | Super Laser Racer

Format: PC | Genre: Racing (arcade) | Publisher: New Star Games | Developer: New Star Games | Release date: July 2009 | RRP: £7.49

By Lewis Denby

Imagine flicking a set of toy cars around an air hockey table.

That’s the sort of high-tech, low-grav, zero-friction experience delivered by Super Laser Racer.  It is, in effect, all about learning to manage the handling of these vehicles, as they fly and flail around a multitude of tracks suspended in deepest space.  There’s no tarmac condition to worry about, and nothing weighting these cars down to the road.  They float precariously, at dazzlingly high speeds, around inordinately complicated laser grids.

Comparisons to Wipeout, Mario Kart and a whole load of other combat racing games are inevitable.  In fact, Super Laser Racer’s a solid enough game, with a unique enough feel, to stand proudly on its own.  It’s a great example of an indie developer playing to its strengths and producing the type of game that could only emerge from such a scene.  It’s colourful and kitsch.  It’s maddeningly addictive.

With an impressive collection of vehicles, you’ll race around the many tracks in any of a multitude of game types.  As well as the slightly uninspired tournament setting, there are individual races, which can be tackled in any of three modes.  The standard race mode is straight-forward enough.  Eliminator knocks out the last racer to finish every lap, making each a mad dash to climb the grid.  And Survivor locks out the power-charged pit-stop, meaning any damage you take can’t be repaired throughout the race.  When your damage bar fills to the top with red, it’s game over.

While these modes add some variety, it’s the basic race mode that remains the most engaging.  Its universally understood rules, with the addition of some arcade shooting, make for a splendidly invigorating distraction, as you work to beat lap times, risk narrow corners and line up your shots.  You collect weapons and power-ups around the tracks but, pleasantly, they rarely take over.  Despite the crazy, Geometry Wars-esque explosions, none of them are particularly devastating, acting more as a temporary irritant than a race-destroying catastrophe.  As such, it remains primarily about the racing itself, and its mechanics never contradict.

//So lonely
It’s absolutely crying out for multiplayer.  That there isn’t one, either local or online, is a serious problem.  It’s never fair to criticise a product for failing to be something else, but that’s the issue.  Super Laser Racer is totally the sort of game that screams for competition.  There’s an online leaderboard, but that’s hardly exhilarating.  And it’s not that the AI isn’t convincing – it genuinely is.  It’s just not real people.

The single-player game contains enough content to keep you occupied for a fair while, even if the basics remain the same across each mode.  There’s plenty to unlock, if that’s your bag.  There’s even a surprisingly-easy-once-you-know-how track editor, and if enough players start sharing their tracks on the official forum, there’s the potential for limitless entertainment.

But, you know.  No multiplayer.  It really nags.

It nags mainly because I like Super Laser Racer.  I like it a lot.  It’s explosive, addictive and gorgeously balanced.  It revels in its own simplicity and its mastery of a core concept, like so many excellent indie games do.  But £7.49, though inexpensive, is a very real price – and despite the impressive amount of content to unlock, the inability to challenge friends is a serious kick to the mileage you’ll get out of this.

Still.  I’m ready for another go…

7/10

What does this score mean?