It took a few long play sessions before I was able to warm up to DRiiFT Mania. The top-down perspective racer pays homage to the arcade classic Off Road, but attempts to modernize it slightly with cell-shading and the ability to allow up to eight players locally.
The fixed camera, full-screen track so popularly used in Off Road was completely necessary at the time, but feels a bit unecessary today. Don’t get me wrong, I do have a fondness for retro gaming, but in this style of game it just feels limiting. I would compare it to a JRPG that still tries to throw random enemy encounters your way. Yes, the game may still be fun, but should 1989’s technological limitations be a part of this brand-new experience?
It wasn’t until my second or third day that I started feeling some of this game’s charm and somehow enjoying it. It becomes fun when you play with a friend. Although I would have loved to try eight player, that requires four Wii Remotes and four Classic Controllers (or Nunchuks) for a total of eight. Then, DRiiFt Mania can become something of a party game.
The drifting action is actually pretty cool too. It’s as simple as pressing the D-pad to turn a corner, but lighter cars seem to handle swooping around tight corners quite well. The heavier cars, however, move along at about the rate of which a snail travels, so I learned to avoid using them. Larger cars also felt very clumsy when making turns, making it hard to enjoy playing with them.
There are also some minor annoyances. For instance, hitting a wall will more often than not totally destroy what was looking to be an awesome race for you. It is also very easy to miss a jump or a ramp on some tracks and have to go through hell to try to catch up again. Of course, this is more the result of player error, but those errors can be easy to make and almost always ruin any good lead you have on the other racers.
Enough about my sucking at this game! What about what was totally missed? There is no online element. You can’t race against a friend online and the game doesn’t even give you leaderboards – what gives?
All in all, after lots of playtime, there was something to like about DRiiFT Mania. There was also a lot not to like. While I wouldn’t call it a bad game, I would say it left a lot to be desired.
If you like old school racers like Off Road and Super Off Road, and have A) Lots of friends who can come over at any time or B) Lots of siblings who want to play there is a lot of potential in this game. However, if you are going for a solo drive, give it some thought first – ‘cause you won’t be playing online.
GamePro Score: 3.0
Pros: Fun for fans of Off Road, only eight bucks, up to eight players, drifting rocks
Cons: Singleplayer gets old, no online play or leaderboards, eight player requires four WiiRemotes and four attachments.
The Info – Platform: WiiWare, Publisher: Konami, Players: 1-8 ESRB: E, Price: 800 Wii Points ($8)
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