New Star GP has an extensive career and already feels like a full release | Early Access preview
New Star GP is the latest early access retro racing game from the team behind Retro Bowl, Retro Goal, and many other mobile sports games. An arcade racer that looks like how you remember classics such as Virtua Racing looking, it’s surprising just how much depth there is underneath the cartoon-stylised bonnet of this polygonal F1 racer.
Starting with boxy, eighties classics and moving through the decades to sleek, modern day speed machines, there’s far more nuance and subtlety required to New Star GP than would first meet the eye. I’m not used to being quite so exacting to the driving line in an arcade or kart style racing but here it pays dividends, with wheels tickling the apex as you cut up the inside of your opponent feeling just as satisfying as you’d imagine with opponents turn into a speck in your rear-view mirror.
At the opposite end of the scale, a cocky late braking manoeuvre can soon see you up and over the curb, flying toward the barriers at an unnerving pace. Not all is lost however, as with each lap a boost bar will refill, allowing for either a quick recovery from the gravel or a helping hand back into the slipstream of your opponent, meaning that you are never too harshly punished for taking a risk. With a palpable sense of speed, this cheeky feature never fails to raise a smile.
Although it’s simple enough for most to just grip the metaphorical wheel and steer, there’s more here for those with a little more track experience. This isn’t Forza or Gran Turismo but a little care and attention to your technique will soon see you moving up through the pack to pole position.
Between tyre choices and fuel levels, pitting strategies, and upgradable body parts, there’s a lot to get your teeth into; far beyond my initial expectations. With an extensive single player career and one-off championships available already, along with a number of championships that can be played alongside your real-life racing pals, this already feels like a full release.
In what seems very much like a nod to the mobile format of previous games (and also a personal attack on my own addictive nature), there’s a ranked system of stars, awarded for various in-race achievements, such as first place finishes and dodging eliminations. Yes, this game veers away from just basic racing into time trials, eliminations, checkpoint races and more. Collecting these allows for further upgrades as well as providing further incentive for just one more race. This, combined with dynamic weather, aggressive wheel to wheel AI rivalries, explosive nitrous oxide speed bursts and wholly unexpected component failures, there’s never a dull lap to be driven.
Off track, you choose which team members to spend time with, resulting in upgrades being offered from those you hang out with and sad emojis from those you spurn. It’s a fantastic addition to what would otherwise be just another menu option to click on. And upgrades come thick and fast, be they for engines, brakes, or liveries. There’s a constant feed of new toys to tinker with.
My only slight gripe at present is the adaptive AI opponent difficulty level. Whilst no Verstappen myself, I’ve found it a relatively straightforward task to get to the front of the pack and stay there, with only my own overconfidence tripping me up. I’m hopeful that this will be addressed with further patches prior to full release. Also on the wishlist would be Grand Prix races longer than six laps, and a larger grid of opponents to test your skills against but these would just be the proverbial icing on an otherwise delicious cake.
With circuits based on beloved iconic locations, a cute and unique art style, and a raucous soundtrack, I’ve loved my time with New Star GP so far. And with the promise of even more still left to dive into, you too should be waiting for lights out on the full release of this joyous love letter to the retro racing genre.
New Star GP is available in early access on PC (via Steam) now.
