Circuit Superstars is a beautiful reminder of Micro Machines -apkrig
There are so many independent games that it is virtually impossible to discover any potential gem or at least wear it in your head when announcements and releases are separated by many years. Something like this happened to me with the Circuit Superstars races, which were introduced at E3 2019, I peeled the trailer at the time like a raspberry, and then reliably forgot that the game even existed. But a few days ago, it was released on the Steam Pre-Access Program, and I haven’t felt such a powerful ignition of affection for a video game in a while. If you remember Micro Machines or the legendary Ignition, remove the purely arcade concept from your memories, add very nice timeless graphics and you have very imaginative top-down races with physical simulation in front of you.
Behind the Circuit Superstars is the 5-member independent studio Original Fire Games, which, with its idea and method of processing, managed to acquire Square Enix as a publisher. Thanks to this, the game will also look at the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Switch in the future, although at the moment the developers are stepping up their efforts towards early access on Steam. The game entered it on March 5, and although it offers only a fraction of the promised content of the full version, you can already spend some pleasant hours in it. There is free riding against artificial intelligence, or in fours on one computer, as well as weekend time trials, arcade mode and also a beta version of multiplayer, offering races in five categories. The vehicles that you can saddle at Circuit Superstars also correspond to this, and you can be pleased by the quite unexpected variety. In addition to the GT and rallycross classes, the game also offers SuperTrucks, Eurotrucks and last but not least openwheely mode, which includes a modern and historic Formula 1 monopost. All vehicles and individual elements of the racer can be slightly modified in the menu Cosmetic accessories will stream into the main body of new content into the game after release.
Even so, the race itself should not be in the background, and it is in this field that the Circuit Superstars appears to be the strongest. As indicated above, this is not a purely arcade ride, but a race in which cars have different physics, there are also deformations of tires or a decrease in fuel in the tank and the associated pit stops. The overall processing of the ride puts a bit higher demands on the player than in other similar games, and the tracks themselves go hand in hand with that. The developers are currently preparing seven of them, the number will increase in the future, and it seems to make sense to devote time to gradual improvement. As in the more traditional simcades it depends on the entry and exit from corners, braking points and other details that may affect the final time. And it should be noted that races can sometimes take quite a long time, if you consider that you can circle 13 laps, which – again – is not quite typical for similar games.
On behalf of early access, people from Original Fire Games state that they expect approximately 6-12 months, after which they want to optimize and gradually improve the game to address the widest possible group of players and not unnecessarily disqualify those who are looking for a challenge or those who they just want to rest at the races. The hope is also that the developers describe themselves as absolute enthusiasts of races of all kinds, and Circuit Superstars is supposed to be the game they would like to play. Combined with a really nice visual and sound side, they have a solid success, which corresponds to the current “Very Positive” rating on Steam and a pleasant price of 17 euros, which, however, will increase with the release of the full version.
