It was only recently that I was reminded of the Super Wooden series. It’s one I’ve eyed on occasion, but never felt the urge to jump in. This year, ViJuDa released the next in the series, being rally spin-off Super Wooden: Rally Edge. It swapped the fixed camera for one placed behind the car, though still with a top-down viewpoint. Since I’ve had fun with other arcade rally games, I felt this would be a great one to be enjoying.
And straight away that proved true. There is a Mini-like vehicle in the game. So naturally, I had to make it my first car. In looking through the dealerships, I could see a great range of cars available in the game, all with different classes. Higher class vehicles will cost more, which got me thinking about the progression Rally Edge has. How long would it be before I was getting into the higher classes? Not just from an events standpoint, but also cost.
After all, it wouldn’t be great if I had to repeat events a lot of times just to afford a vehicle in the next class. That is not the case. There are a set number of events per class, with most being rally events. These rallies have a number of stages to them, with the top three times of each stage being shown. Once all stages have been complete, the overall times are revealed, along with my position. The largest rewards come from being first, as does the most stars.
Super Wooden: Rally Edge uses the star system to unlock the next tier of events. Three stars on all events aren’t needed, but it certainly helps progress quicker. Of course, cars will be unlocked from certain events, so it pays to be completing them. Especially the non-rally ones. Those being head to heads and gymkhana. The gymkhana events offer some technical trials away from rally routes, while head to heads feature racing on circuits against one other racer.
The handling is the make or break for any racing game, with Rally Edge being very easy to control. Cars will go into slides very easily, with the slide becoming tighter the more I turn into it. I never felt like these slides were uncontrolled, however. My use of acceleration and turning always yielded the results I wanted. Hard braking only felt needed for the tightest of turns.
Securing victory on all the E class events, I’d won myself a D class car. Though I still wanted to use the Mini-like vehicle. Which leads me to upgrades. There’s many upgrades that can be bought, allowing for greater power, acceleration, traction and other parts of how a car handles. The upgrades can allow for that car to be pushed into the next class, allowing for the first few events of that higher class to be competed in. Though winning can be tough.
I’d used all my money to upgrade the Mini-like vehicle to D class, so needed to get enough to buy a specific D class vehicle. After two victories and a second place in events, I was able to grab myself a Moon. A 90s Honda-like vehicle. Rerunning the event I got second in, I was easily able to claim a first. And continued winning events with it, upgrading after each event to give myself the best chance.
The locations visited are varied, with countries such as Japan, Finland, France, and Spain being among them. Each has distinct visual differences, though some are more obvious than others. The stages tackled also present great challenges, with a variety of turns, jumps, and bridges to navigate. Along with a good bit of verticality, which can make what should be an easy turn into something much more dangerous.
Along with all the upgrades, cars also need a bit of maintenance. Or at least an oil change every so often so that the car works at its best. They can also be given a wash. Away from the career, there’s the arcade, offering an experience like what an arcade machine would provide. Three rally events rated by difficulty, with limited time to complete a stage. There’s music that plays during races, fitting the fast-paced action. A music room allows for access to those tracks away from racing.
The great handling of Super Wooden: Rally Edge already had convinced this would be an easily recommended experience. And across the hours I’ve played it, I’ve seen nothing that could reduce that recommendation. Varied vehicles and locations, great music, with everything running smoothly all throughout. Add in the photo mode, online leaderboards, and ability to rename the cars, and Rally Edge is a great package at a great price.
Images Taken From:
Super Wooden: Rally Edge PC
