There are some tough roads in the UK. The A496 across Snowdonia is one not for the faint-hearted. The A1 stretch near Rutland has one of the highest fatality rates and of course who could forget the Rosedale Chimney Bank, one of the steepest roads in Britain. None of these roads though could hold a whisker in terms of danger to that of Super Impossible Road, the title of this new dangerous racer we’ve been dying a lot on. It’s fast, there are no rules and it’s physics gone mad. On your marks?
This is the sequel to the very popular Impossible Road and it’s more of the same but a little bit more salty fun. The good news for all you literal fans out there is that the road is possible, as it belies what the title says. You will be able to finish each course found across this road, but it’s tricky and that’s where the action lies.
Super Impossible Road feels like a mix of those old Marble Madness games from years gone by, and any kind of Mario Kart-styled racer you can imagine. It’s all set in the future and for some reason, huge cyber marbles are racing each other in orbit, down spiraling pathways for fun. There isn’t a story here, it doesn’t need one either – as it is all about the racing and who comes first.Â
There are a few modes to choose from in the opening menus. First is the career mode which takes you through races slowly, from hard to mad. You get a star rating after each race up to three stars which harks back to the game’s original mobile roots. The game consists of you racing down a track at high speed yet it is worth noting that there is no acceleration button to press, as well as no brake whatsoever. You do however have a boost button – which should only be used in extreme circumstances when you see the right window and not like me, using it like a fool all the time. There are no sides to the track either, which means you can fly off at will, looking for clever points on a corner and then rejoin the track somewhere else. That is of course, as long as you still hit the checkpoint gates, and as long as you don’t spend too long off the beaten track – where you will be re-spawned back to the last gate you passed.
After a while though Super Impossible Road does a clever thing in the career where it inspires you to cheat, mostly by bouncing off the track at various points and skipping whole sections to get in front of your opponent. Every race is breathtaking and if you’ve drunk a lot of coffee that morning you will be in the zone. If you haven’t or like slow-paced adventure games then you might be in trouble and need a bit of a lie-down.
As well as career mode there is a mode where the developers select a changing track of the day and you get to play to compete for the best times. It also has multiplayer for up to eight players which is a blast when you can get people on. Throw in endless modes if you feel like you want to waste a day or two and on the whole it’s a good package. If you love your racers, especially the extremely fast ones, you’re going to have a lot to love here. I would say the difficulty curve does rise very rapidly, so by the latter stages of your career you might struggle.
The visuals are sharp and effective with what you might expect from a space-age racer. The good thing about Super Impossible Road though is that it’s fast without a framerate rate drop out and the backdrop of space and planets is just gravy compared to the speed you are going at. You can add in customisation to your orb, switching up the colour if you want as well. The soundtrack uses that great mix of almost 1990’s techno to give it a very nostalgic feel to the gameplay and it’s a soundtrack that I loved.
Super Impossible Road is a must-have for fans of old school, fast paced racers. If quick, eye-melting gameplay is your bag, then you’ll find a good range of modes for your pleasure. The question is, are you ready to buckle up, get your orb prepped and look to travel down the Super Impossible Road.Â
Super Impossible Road is on the Xbox Store
