The sequel to Black Bean’s Superstars V8 racing which slipped under the radar when it was released last year, has finally emerged and set to take on the track with a vengeance. But can this new V8 powered racer roar past and show us all what it’s made of?
The Superstars V8 racing series is an Italian Series that is well known in New Zealand and Australia. Due to this, the game offers tracks which many gamers will be unfamiliar with, which is a good aspect as many racing titles available just regurgitate the same well known racing circuits over and over. There are a total of eleven tracks and one of them is our very own South African Kyalami circuit.
There are six game modes available. The single player offers a championship mode, a quick race mode, race weekend mode, time attack and Superstar License’s. The championship mode is where the player will advance his career by winning trophies and unlocking prizes for your relaxation corner when you are in-between races, such as a TV, couch, minibar, console for that big HD TV, and to top it off, a pink bunny puppet. There are also real pictures of each car and its racing video to be unlocked. Unfortunately there is nothing else to unlock in the game, because as you begin your career you already have the choice of any of the 10 cars from very well known manufacturers, as well as the ability to tune them as you please without any restrictions. Although it doesn’t allow the player to strive for much, it gives the game more playability as it is easier to just pick up and play.
The championship mode is quite customizable in the way that the player can change the order of the tracks as well as remove and add up to twelve circuits in a season.
The Superstar License mode is where you will be challenged by completing certain goals, such as beating a specific lap time on a wet track with no braking assists, in order to be rewarded with the respective license.
As the game is limited by its selection of cars and race modes available, the huge window of being able to tune each car is a savior in terms of features. Before each race, the player is able to tinker with the gear ratios to provide either more speed or acceleration, suspension stiffness on front and back, tyre wear, tyre compound, steering assists and many more. There are also a number of presets available if you just want to jump straight into a tuned race.
A feature that is not seen in many racing titles is the way that the surface on each track changes between race days. The track on day one or practice day won’t hold the same as on day two or race day. This provides the game with more of a challenge but is somewhat flawed by the responsiveness of the handling of the cars, so the feature is practically negligible.
The graphics allow this title to step up to the likes of Forza and Need For speed. Most of the effort though has been spent on the cars themselves, as there is a big distinction between the cars and the surrounding tracks, which are a bit rough around the edges.
There is nothing better than the sound of a mighty V8 screaming around a track. The engine sounds will bring music to your ears and this alone is enough to clock in a couple more hours.
Superstars V8 Next Challenge has been given a better start than its predecessor and comes out with a bunch of new points such as the track degrading between races, a hefty amount of car tuning to suit different driving styles, as well as the ability to customize the track order in a championship. Unfortunately some of this is lost as each car’s handling and steering is a little oversensitive, which makes the difference when the track degrades and the cars setup from one extreme to another only slightly different.
Overall Superstars V8 Next Challenge is a very competent racing title that provides the user with a good sense of speed, powerful V8 cars, interesting tracks and an abundance of tuning options to push each car to its absolute max.
[starreviewmulti id=2 tpl=20]
