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RACE THE SUN (VITA)
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Publisher: Flippfly.
Developer: Flippfly. Released: October 2014. Genre: Endless runner. Other versions: PC; PS4; PS3. Posted 21st June 2015. By Tom Clare © 2015 |
Race The Sun is an inoffensive but unsubstantial title that takes the speed and reflex-testing nature of the futuristic racing genre and reimagines it as an endless runner. Rocking a monochrome-minimalist look, RTS essentially boils down to a high speed game of dodge; a moment-by-moment test of survival, as the player must keep their vulnerable craft from being dashed against the dense, imposing scenery. To accumulate big points, you’ll need to cheat death for as long as possible, hoover up points-yielding ‘tris’ in order to build up a healthy multiplier, and also maintain enough pace to keep with the setting sun. Should it pass below the horizon, your craft’s solar energy, much like your run itself, will cease to be.
Along the way, you’ll procure various power-ups. There’s jump, a trick which is mainly handy for admiring the landscape from above, and buying the gamer some brief respite. Shields are more useful as they essentially act as an extra life, whilst the ability to survive slightly longer in shadows and a pick-up magnet all help the scoring. They’re all okay, but nothing game-changing.
Additional zones can be pretty trippy
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String enough jumps and you'll end up amongst the clouds
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The ship handles nimbly, whilst the rapid gameplay and unpredictable landscapes offer challenging gameplay in short bursts. You’ll jink between spiky trees, thread between ebony pixel pyramids, and hold your breath as you dart below rotating cubes. There is however a limit to the enjoyment that can be gleaned from dodging monochrome blocks. Moderately diverting for a few turns, boredom inevitably starts to creep in as the gameplay lacks variety and, curiously for something so fast, excitement.
Endless runners by their very nature face a struggle to guarantee real longevity, and so Race The Sun needed a good strategy to ensure some lasting appeal. Flippfly have given it a fair shot; whilst the meta-challenges (achieving perfect regions, performing lots of jumps, reaching certain scores etc.) are unremarkable, they prove just enough of a carrot to lure you back, whilst the daily regeneration of the game world means things never remain the same for long. It lacks the PC version’s user-generated content, though there is an Apocalypse mode for hardcore players. Predictably enough, it’s the main game on steroids, with games more likely to be measured in seconds than minutes.
Endless runners by their very nature face a struggle to guarantee real longevity, and so Race The Sun needed a good strategy to ensure some lasting appeal. Flippfly have given it a fair shot; whilst the meta-challenges (achieving perfect regions, performing lots of jumps, reaching certain scores etc.) are unremarkable, they prove just enough of a carrot to lure you back, whilst the daily regeneration of the game world means things never remain the same for long. It lacks the PC version’s user-generated content, though there is an Apocalypse mode for hardcore players. Predictably enough, it’s the main game on steroids, with games more likely to be measured in seconds than minutes.
...And they say joy can't be measured
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Once the sun has set, there'll be no more solar energy for your craft
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Visually it’s smooth and clean, if a little uninteresting. Frequent updates would have you imagine a game world that’s replete with variety, but in reality, there’s only so much you can do with spikes, cubes and basic ‘dodge’ gameplay, leaving the environments feeling samey and lacking panache. Sound effects play a similarly tertiary role, though the calming music is pleasant enough.
There’s little wrong with Race The Sun from the point of view of execution, but it’s a difficult sell when the Vita already has WipEout 2048. Accepted, the two are not a like-for-like match, but even putting to one side all of the racing, combat and multiplayer options that come with Studio Liverpool’s futuristic racer, WipEout’s blistering Zones mode makes for a more compelling experience than RTS, as it similarly sees the player trying to survive as long as possible amid mounting speeds, dodging scenery for as long as their reflexes allow. Even taken in isolation, Zones makes for a more compelling experience.
Race The Sun is neatly crafted, its simple vision solidly realised. But what should have felt like an exciting, nerve-jangling, edge-of-the-seat endless runner somehow contrives to feel a little tame. Whilst playable, it never quite manages to generate that all-important one-more-go factor. Neither the power-ups, the meta-challenges or the general incentives are likely to entice gamers back beyond the first few days and given the asking price, you could be forgiven for expecting a little more.
There’s little wrong with Race The Sun from the point of view of execution, but it’s a difficult sell when the Vita already has WipEout 2048. Accepted, the two are not a like-for-like match, but even putting to one side all of the racing, combat and multiplayer options that come with Studio Liverpool’s futuristic racer, WipEout’s blistering Zones mode makes for a more compelling experience than RTS, as it similarly sees the player trying to survive as long as possible amid mounting speeds, dodging scenery for as long as their reflexes allow. Even taken in isolation, Zones makes for a more compelling experience.
Race The Sun is neatly crafted, its simple vision solidly realised. But what should have felt like an exciting, nerve-jangling, edge-of-the-seat endless runner somehow contrives to feel a little tame. Whilst playable, it never quite manages to generate that all-important one-more-go factor. Neither the power-ups, the meta-challenges or the general incentives are likely to entice gamers back beyond the first few days and given the asking price, you could be forgiven for expecting a little more.
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VERDICT
Visual: 5/10
Audio: 5/10 Gameplay: 4/10 Longevity: 5/10 OVERALL: 5/10 |