There happened to be a time when all I could play was of the Need For Speed II SE / Screamer II variety and I wasn’t too pleased. Especially since we were then well in to the new millennium, and my Windows OS was a decrepit 98.
Then came my beloved PlayStation and yet I was still upset that Need For Speed: High Stakes looked nothing like its PC counterpart; somehow Need For Speed: Underground 2 looked better on the PlayStation 2 than on my Game Boy Advance, Gran Turismo on the PlayStation 3 than on the Portable and on and on.
Now that I own myself a simulation racing wheel for the likes of Project CARS however, I suddenly seem to have developed a craving for 1998.
According to 29-year-old Brazilian artist/programmer/game developer Sandro Luis de Paula, the cause of my original dismay was that racing games of the past never had the luxury of 3D. Rather things like depth and perspective were only ‘simulated’ in 2D using sprite scaling. Hmm.
Anyhow Sandro himself seems to have developed a similar craving circa 2015, going so far as to build himself a pseudo-3D game engine, infuse it with 60fps gameplay/other modern assortments, and create upon it this pixelated smoke-fest called Slipstream.
A very arcade throwback, Slipstream’s brief reads exactly like the back of that old CD case lying at the bottom of your treasure trove; 20 tracks offering exotic locales, Arcade/Quick Race/Grand Prix game modes, 5 unique car models and 9 tracks that make me want to Gran Turismo (1997) again.
Plus you don’t even have to rely on your discs barely working more as all of the above stands bundled on Steam as of 21st May. 4 player local multiplayer and a track editor is being worked on, while I’ve noticed allusions to a fully illustrated Story Mode across the old Kickstarter pitch.
