Music Racer: Ultimate Review

Music Racer: Ultimate is a high-speed, neon-filled racing experience. If you are sensitive to flashing lights, I’ll warn you now this is a game you are going to want to avoid. The game also warns you not to play if you are fatigued or drowsy, so keep this in mind before you decide to start playing.

Music Racer is drastically different from other racing games I have played before. It features brightly-coloured visuals that made me feel like I was sent back to a rave in the 80s (not that I’ve ever been to a rave, but it’s what I imagine it would be like). Courses are created based on the song you choose, with pulsing lights that match the beat of the music; you are definitely in for a unique experience. Besides the intense visuals that you notice right off the bat, Music Racer lets you select songs from your music collection on your computer or console; if you are like me and don’t keep music on your device you have the option to use the online music streaming site Audius. If you use Audius you can search for music artists or look through the most popular songs on their song chart. The game also has the option to link to a network folder web server if you have music stored this way. I found searching for artists on Audius didn’t work very well; if I did happen to find an artist with available songs the game either had issues downloading it or clicking on the song didn’t do anything, so I just stuck to the top music chart. If you are a big fan of EDM music and dance remixes of other songs I can promise you that there are a ton of songs here you will enjoy. If you aren’t the biggest fan of music like this you may be disappointed.

The menu on the game isn’t super clear as to what all the options are; it took some time for me to figure out how to change my vehicle, customise the colours of the paint and rims, and switch the track that you are racing on. As you play you earn money that you can spend on unlocking more cars like Kitt from Knight Rider, a Light Cycle from Tron, and a DeLorean like the one in Back to the Future. The “vehicle” I thought was most unique was the option to choose a raven, so instead of driving through the course, you are flying through it.

There are four different game modes available to select: Normal, where you try to hit the white boxes and avoid obstacles like pillars as you drive along; Zen, which is more relaxed as the obstacles are gone and you just have to try to hit the blocks; Cinematic, which was just confusing and kind of spun around my car while music played; and Hard, where if you hit any obstacles you are instantly dead. There is no story in this game, you are just driving to the music.

I’m not usually super sensitive to flashing lights and effects like that, but I found that after a few minutes my eyes were getting incredibly tired. This is a title I wouldn’t be able to play for an extended amount of time. Maybe if I put some slower music on the console that wasn’t super upbeat dance music, my eyes wouldn’t get so overstimulated.