We’re looking at the Twilight Rivals Edition of Inertial Drift, which is now available on the PS5, as well as console ports of Tip Top: Don’t Fall!, Super Woden GP and Save Room.
Inertial Drift: Twilight Rivals Edition review (PS5)
We reviewed the PlayStation 4 version of Inertial Drift back in 2020, but the game was recently ported over to the PlayStation 5 alongside a new content pack, which is also available for the original PS4 version. As we enjoyed the original release, that was plenty of reason for us to jump back in.
The Twilight Rivals expansion is a surprisingly large new DLC pack, adding new tracks and new cars, but even a brand new story mode. This makes sure that Inertial Drift on the PlayStation 5 doesn’t feel like “more of the same”, but manages to feel like a fresh experience even if you’re already seen all of the content that base game had to offer.
Audiovisually, the new PS5 version doesn’t offer a huge leap forward compared to the already stylish PS4 edition, and the soundtrack is still just as good two years later as well. It’s a joy to play this one with the new DualSense controller though, as Inertial Drift’s control mechanics feel great here – it doesn’t make the game any easier, but you do feel more in control than ever before. And while a lack of gameplay types seemed to hinder the game two years ago, here we are – playing and enjoying it all over again. An easy recommendation if you like indie racers and have a PS5.
Tip Top: Don’t Fall! review (PS4)
If you had asked us if climbing could be an interesting concept for a video game a few years ago, we would have looked confused – but there we are. The Climb is one of the most iconic VR games out there, and Tip Top: Don’t Fall! offers yet another take on the sport. Having previously been released on PC, it’s now been ported over to consoles by Sometimes You.
Interestingly, Tip Top: Don’t Fall plays very much like a roguelite rather than a simulation. In a way, that’s something that actually makes sense as well, because without the immersion of VR it’s hard to make climbing exciting without putting the fear of falling into the player somehow. It makes for a very hard gameplay experience though, so if you’re just looking to try out climbing, this’ll probably frustrate you.
You’re a solo climber here, and progression is handled by offering you different peaks to scale in a variety of locations – all of which are presented as 2D mountain faces from which handholds stick out. Climbing is handled not too unlike the climbing event in SEGA’s Tokyo Olympics game, with the trigger buttons controlling your grip for each hand as you direct a loose hand up to the next hold. There’s a lot more complexity here though, as stamina factors into your climb. You can restore energy with chalk, but being off balance drains it quickly, and even trying to anchor yourself with a safety rope can be costly – let alone a big jump to something that’s just out of reach.
With some nice visuals, Tip Top: Don’t Fall! is difficult but worth a try, especially if you consider the budget price point it has. It’s a nice take on a sport for anyone who doesn’t have access to The Climb.
Super Woden GP review (PS4)
Eastasiasoft recently brought Super Woden GP to consoles after an earlier launch on Steam, and as a game that taps into the classic top-down/isometric racing formula we couldn’t wait to try it out – we did so on a PlayStation 4, but the game – which was developed by ViJuDa, is out on all major consoles.
As was the norm in games of this type, you start Super Woden GP with a simple car that you can enter into either single races or Grand Prix events – earning prize money and eventually upgrading. A nice touch is that you can’t take an overpowered car into easy races either so some quick cash, so the game always maintains a certain level of challenge. And challenging it is, as Super Woden GP has a bit of a learning curve in terms of making sure the cars don’t slip out of control – which can be frustrating at first but will feel satisfying once you get comfortable with it.
The game can feel like a bit of a grind though, as some events are impossible to win without upgrading first – and because you can’t really go back to lower tier races for easy wins this can take a while. What doesn’t help is that buying a new car is the only feasible way to upgrade – which is of course more expensive than upgrading components like you would in similar games.
With varied track layouts and rewarding race mechanics, Super Woden GP is a fun retro racer, with lovely visuals that are more detailed than most racers in this genre are. What’s a shame is that the AI opponents don’t seem to make a lot of moves or adjust their strategy to overtake or defend though, so that area could have been improved. It’s a relatively minor issue though, if you enjoy this type of racer then Super Woden GP will definitely entertain you.
Save Room review (PS4)
Save Room from developer Fractal Projects and publisher Ratalaika is one of the strangest games we’ve played in a while. It essentially turns the grid-based inventory management from older survival horror games into a full game, which feels like a weird concept but it actually works as a puzzle game, at least for a while.
Part of the game is about the spatial insight you need to fit a predefined set of stuff into an inventory space, but there’s a bit more to it than that. In many cases, you’ll have more things than can actually fit in the available space, which means combining items. Because this is based on survival horror, that means crafting things by combining items, or getting rid of ammo by loading it into a gun.
It makes for a decent time-waster of a puzzle game, but with only 40 puzzles it’s rather short-lived. The earlier puzzles can be completed in under a minute, and once you’re used to the crafting/combining mechanics you’ll probably not be stumped for too long by the later ones either. It’s okay as an interesting diversion, but unfortunately the price for the console version is higher than the price on Steam, so maybe you’ll want to wait for a sale.
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