Nitronic Rush, released about 7 years ago, remains one of the most well known student projects from DigiPen. It was a really curious “survival driving game” that mixed the early 90s arcade racing feel with very Tron-inspired visuals and some crazy car acrobatics as if one were to mix Speed Racer and TrackMania. It was also free as it still is. Fast forward several years and the mostly same team of people releases Distance – a spiritual successor to Nitronic Rush. Though, it’s also a bit of a remake of the original as well, since you can play all of the original tracks here as well. And it’s not really my cup of tea. Yet, also something that I enjoyed playing.
In short, the game’s still all about crazy air control in a car that can ride walls and ceilings as long as its wheels are touching the surface. And to make sure they do, the car also has a bunch of jet thrusters that add a lot of control to the movement you can have while in the air, including straight up flying. As such, your goal is usually to get to the end of the track as fast as you can, while performing insane stunts and trying to not overheat your car and explode. And it sounds great, with really good pumping soundtrack, and looks fantastic with lots of really stylish cybernetic horror scenes you get to experience.
I don’t think that the developers managed to nail the ways you can teach players yet, as when first time learning you will be dying a lot in the second half of the game – the “level design language”, so to speak, is not as solid as it should be, with some parts being very hard to read and expectations from the player sometimes not being obvious at all. And I’m not sure limiting and also switching between several air control options was a smart move either, since it often adds more confusion in how the car behaves. Also the grace period for making jumps is extremely finicky for whatever reason. Yet, the game’s fun, the levels seem to be almost as layered and crazy if you’re into speedrunning (they look far more tube-like at first, though), and the game is definitely worth at least checking out.