When I think back to the best multiplayer experiences of my life, my thoughts immediately turn to two titles in particular: Rock'n Roll Racing for Megadrive and Micro Machines V3 for the first PlayStation.
Two racing games that managed to keep the player glued to the screen thanks to an attractive track design, an exceptional soundtrack and multiplayer fun with few equals.
Blazerush, already released in 2014 for PlayStation 3 and PC, returns to peep out on our PlayStation 4 trying to bring players closer to this now almost extinct concept of the racing game. Will Tangem Games be successful in its intent?
War on the last drift
The first thing that catches the eye of Blazerush is its essentiality: the only modes available will be the Tournament and the multiplayer both offline and online.
The Tournament will see us protagonists of a series of races of different kinds, next to the canonical race we will be able to try our hand in "Re Della Collina" where the winner is whoever stays in the lead for 50 seconds during the race while in "Elimination" we will be chased by a truck that will to destroy us and whoever manages to be the only survivor wins.
To further extend the longevity of the tournament they come to the rescue of the objectives that we will have to try to complete during the race, the fulfillment of the objectives will allow us to obtain from one to three cups to proceed in the Tournament and unlock new cars.
There will be 16 vehicles at our disposal, each with unique characteristics that we will have to know how to exploit to get the better of every situation.
The gameplay is very simple: the left analog stick is responsible for controlling the machine, being an arcade racing with an isometric view we will always have an eye on the situation as the view frames all the cars that are competing at that moment, although, not infrequently, it can happen that the camera gets "stuck" losing optimal control of the vehicle.
On the tracks there will be turbo pads to give the engine a little boost and weapons of various kinds to eliminate our opponents, in case of falls and / or deaths we will always start from the last position and, especially in the advanced stages of the tournament, it is advisable drive with the utmost attention as the challenge level manages to remain at good levels until the end.
Together is better!
Where Blazerush best expresses its potential is certainly in the multiplayer mode. Tangem Games, in contrast to today's scenario, finally proposes an offline multiplayer for up to four players as well as an online mode for up to eight players.
The chance to enter the game by taking the place of the bots was apt but, alas, having no additional pads I was unable to try the experience locally.
It did not go better online, only twice I managed to find someone to play (after all it is the conversion of a title released last year) but I did not find any problems whatsoever, imperceptible lag and consequent good response of commands.
Riot of metal sheets
The audiovisual sector of Blazerush stands at good levels, the polygonal count does not scream a miracle but returns a good impact both as models and as particle effects, the track design is not particularly original (therefore forget the levels reached by the already named Micro Machines V3) but does its job. The audio sector is not bad, the soundtrack keeps the pace of the race well and can be a good accompaniment for the player.
Longevity is highly dependent on the multiplayer mode, the Tournament itself is not very long as it will take 12-13 hours to complete the Campaign with all the gold cups, 7-8 hours if you just want to complete without deepening.
If the intent of Tangem Games was to bring back an almost extinct racing genre, I would say that the goal has been achieved: although Blazerush is not a masterpiece, it manages to entertain the player for a good number of hours and is proposed in overbearing way as a star of nerdy evenings thanks to a local multiplayer nowadays too neglected but loudly requested by those who do not like to confront complete strangers around the world.
If you are nostalgic for Micro Machines it is a must buy, if you have four pads and as many friends to invite home, keep it in high regard, it will not disappoint you.
