Superstars V8 Racing Review

There’s a little game called Superstars V8 Racing that commands a fairly premium price on PSN. Its description seems to tell of features that would be found in full retail games and has an attractive four out of five star rating from users. Is this a great find or should you steer clear?

Graphically, Superstars V8 Racing belongs on the PlayStation 2. The tracks are dull and employ a generally drab color scheme. While there is some visible car damage, I never saw anything more than a hanging bumper. The introductory movie is bad; it looks like stock racing footage in an old video template. The audio is somewhat generic but it does its job. The menu tune is upbeat and doesn’t get annoying. There does appear to be ambient sounds produced by crowds of spectators and helicopters.

Superstars V8 Racing appears to have many options to choose from as it has both single player and multiplayer game modes. The Single Player stuff is rather uninteresting. You can jump right into a race, enter a championship, partake in a weekend race, or you can partake in racetrack challenges. There is also a training mode which leaves much to be desired as it does not seem to instruct you in any way. There are realism settings like tire wear, car damage, and penalties and these can be toggled on or off. There is a Driving Aids section in the options menus where you can set the game to play more like an arcade or a simulator.

The Superstars Licenses offer some amount of fun and challenge. These are a variety challenges from countdowns, dues, trials, and special scenarios. It is during these Superstars Licenses that you will probably learn the ins and outs of Superstars V8 Racing. The multiplayer can be fun though the game handles quite poorly. If you play patiently and anticipate the game’s awkwardness, you can beat online opponents with no trouble. In gest, it seems that the general competitive nature of online play is what makes this game more enjoyable than it actually is.

Superstars V8 Racing is a little downloadable game that could have potentially been an exemplary downloadable game had it been a better focused experience. Entertainment-wise, there is some substance to be gleaned from this title and a decent number of easy trophies to be won for those that are interested in that type of thing. Unfortunately, this game spreads itself out thin in all directions. It feels cheap and plays like it.