I find rallycross to be a fun type of racing, with strategy on when to take that joker lap while fighting for position. It’s well catered for when it comes to sim-style racers, but I’ve not found any arcade rallycross racers. Until I found the recently released SuperSpec Rallycross on Steam. Developed by just one person going under the name of Volume Games, SuperSpec Rallycross feels a love letter.

Not just to rallycross, but also classic top-down racers. In first getting to a single race, the simple style of the visuals felt suitably retro. Bold, flat colours that are easy on the eye. Including the shadows. The top-down camera that remains in one position, giving a decent view of the area and vehicle so that no corner arrives unexpectedly. And a HUD that is uncluttered and spaced to provide easy access to all the information it holds.

The controls are simple, with just accelerate, brake, and steering. Nothing else. The cars have a simple handling model, where turning at speed will start it drifting around corners. Tapping on the brakes will reign the tightness of that turn in, which matters a lot. Dropping speed before a tight corner reduces the chance of a drift, which enables a smoother turn. The handling makes races fast, fun, and full of skill to master these tracks.

Speaking of the tracks, there’s 20 in total, with some of those being variants of another. As is the rallycross way, these tracks are a mix of tarmac and dirt. A joker lap exists on all tracks, with it clearly marked on the map. Most of these jokers make the lap slightly longer, but a few make it shorter. Since a joker only needs to be taken once per race, it balances out with all the others.

There’s choice in when to take that joker lap, with a point being given for taking it but a point deducted for not. A point is also given for having the fastest lap of all racers. Along with single race, there’s the grand prix mode. Five cups with four tracks each, with three difficulties to tackle them on. A time trial mode sees players competing against each other for the fastest lap with online leaderboards.

SuperSpec Rallycross is a game that knows what it wants to be. And that is a fun racer that’s good for quick burst of enjoyment. But one that can also see hours invested in it. It feels fully fuelled by the retro style it wants to emulate, right down to the guitar-led music that plays throughout. The love of rallycross can also be felt with how much inspiration is taken from real world events for its tracks and vehicles.

Across my time with playing SuperSpec Rallycross, there’s been no issues that I’ve encountered. Each race, each grand prix, feel like they slip by quickly. The tracks are short, which is another way in which the game feels retro-inspired. For me, I can easily recommend SuperSpec Rallycross. For a bit of arcade madness, there’s no better choice.

Images Taken From:
SuperSpec Rallycross | Steam