Videogame Review, Old School Racer 2 for the Nintendo Switch (Home and Portable Controllers)

Videogame Review, Old School Racer 2 for the Nintendo Switch (Home and Portable Controllers)

As an old school gamer I find the name misleading somewhat.  This game doesn’t play like the Colecovision, the Intellivision, the Atari 7800, the Nintendo Entertainment System… etc.  What this racing game does do though is run on a video system in which the bike’s shaky mechanics come into play where worlds seem to collide literally.  But how does a biker have power over the land enough to be able to control earthquakes and rock collisions and such?  Is he a god, an airplane, a picnic basket?  His helmet looks like another face on top of those bulging eyes.  Old School Racer 2 is often about time trials and less about racing; however, the time trial ghosts are only remnants of the past: bikes without wheels and drivers in faded spiritual forms.  Difficulty is easy for the first 30 or so courses and the other half (filling in about 60+ courses officially) is for mindless experts.  Options are rather disappointing this time around.  There’s not a lot of hand-holding, there’s not a lot of possible gameplay changes, and, more importantly, I can’t find any true arcade mode where the points could actually matter should I ever get them.  Of course it’s apparent the game isn’t realistic and I’m wondering if Riddlersoft Games intended a sort of viable fantasy.  Controls in this case aren’t very innovative; going between thumbstick and direction buttons is fun, but I’m also wondering if there could’ve been more speed boosts or some kind of button-function for landing on the ground sooner.  General design means that players will have to cancel out an unproductive attitude if they wish to gather golden tickets and race to the finish although it gets hard to tell where we’re beginning and where we’re ending.  A lot of high definition only covers the modest visual design.  Each race is a beat, a short burst that requires timing in skill despite the fact I haven’t found much effect from turning wheels around.  I guess Riddlersoft calls this Switch game “retro” or whatever because it’s in 2D; that may be true, but it’s also true that gamers of past games get choosy about old programs within means of infantilism.  3D in certain forms is retro now.  At times I’ll find myself immature and yell out “I told you I had to go to the bathroom!” during the game.  What high definition can do is make a bike rider’s clothes look more sharp and fluttery than real life so I can give something of a remark on its features in video.  “Switching” between handheld and home controls gets awkward at times due to the elements related to the Nintendo Switch: a tiny power button, a touch screen that only does some things, and the flimsy joycons.  Usually I think of Power Rangers when I put parts together for controller type.  I would’ve wished I could drift better in the game; even going up loopholes in a bike at the highest speed can be only barely possible within moments on end.  Earning medals is a matter of choosing the right vehicle after dealing with a weaker bike before heading to the starting line, and a race won’t start until you decide to start even if the repetitive motion of starting a race all over again becomes tiresome.  Old School Racer 2 is only $7.99.

https://youtu.be/2SHhYXr3Rz8