Given the fact that I’m a vintage gamer, there’s no question that I understand the immense power of nostalgia, and how smart developers in the past generation have learned to harness the energy those feelings create when making their games. While on the surface, taking a glance at a very 90’s-inspired title like Parking Garage Rally Circuit may make the unacquainted turn up their nose, the rough polygons and visual noise that tended to be common in that era can be like catnip to people who grew up with them. Mix that with what ends up being a pretty loose and easygoing feel, and you have this game in a nutshell, but whether that will sustain your interest will be a very fair question.

Starting with what works, there’s no question that the game’s presentation absolutely screams out to classic arcade and home gaming experiences with multiple Sega classics, the likes of Ridge Racer, and others. I suppose if you didn’t live through that era, the hook may be difficult to understand, but there is a loving charm to the recreation of that look and feel that’s certainly admirable. On a general level the style of play has also been shoved firmly into that specific corner as well, with your ability to drift not requiring much in the way of technique, instead just being available with the push of a button, though you at least still have the ability to tighten or loosen your turn radius.

Where the issue arises is with how quickly the appeal can start to wear thin. On the one hand there’s just the fact that it almost feels more like an action game than a racer, with such a limited differentiation in speed, and a lack of more refined technique. I’d even say drift boosting in the likes of Mario Kart feels more nuanced than this, if that helps to paint a picture. It’s true that you’ll need to navigate the winding contained courses, but the challenge there is more often in seeing the turns given the lack of visual fidelity, and signs that try to be helpful but can’t always be understood until you’re right on top of them. None of this is helped by the limited and clunky physics that can make any collision into a catastrophe as sometimes your car just feels like it catches onto something and loses control, which also then makes trying to find risky shortcuts discouraging given the unpredictability of your landings. There’s no question there can be appeal here, but it comes with a laundry list of qualifiers.