How Super Woden Rally Edge aims to bring back pure arcade fun

The word ‘arcade’ is often bandied about with incorrect context. For some hardcore, PC-only sim racers, Gran Turismo 7 is merely an ‘arcade’ game. Then there’s the sprawling open worlds of Forza Horizon 5 or The Crew Motorfest, labelled with the same misgiving.

This, of course, is subjective, but to me, something like Cruis’n Blast is one of the few true arcade racers as it is a derivation of an experience made for cabinets at bowling alleys.

So too is Sega Rally, with its time-based checkpoint system and finely balanced difficulty designed to make you insert yet more pocket money.

While Super Woden Rally Edge is not available in physical, freestanding, form, it has all the sensibilities of a game that would be.

Namely, in its dedicated arcade mode, if you fail to reach a checkpoint or the end within a time limit, you can no longer drive along the point-to-point stage. There are also credits, two allocated in this instance, to restart a stage. Use them up, and you’ll have to start the rally from the beginning.

You see – an arcade game.

This is the third Super Woden game by solo Spanish developer ViJuDa, and unlike its forbearers, it is laser-focused on one type of motorsport – rallying.

There’s still a uniquely retro visual style and fictional vehicles (that the cognoscenti will still be able to recognise), plus online leaderboards. Only, this time, as it stands (there may be a rallycross mode), just you and the stage. Also, in a significant shift, chase-cam only.

“I didn’t want to be too repetitive. Making an SWGP3 would have made it difficult to introduce real innovations – I didn’t want it to feel like just an expansion of content,” explains ViJuDa to Traxion.

“Also, working on the same project style for too long can be exhausting. That’s why making a spinoff was the best option, even if some of the changes feel a bit risky.

“My focus with Rally Edge is on capturing the excitement of rallying in an arcade style rather than simulating real-world events. I also don’t intend to create a simulation. Rally Edge is an arcade rally game, built around a passion for automotive history and a satisfying driving experience.”

Testing a newly-released demo – ahead of a full PC release later in 2025 and hopefully console versions after “the Super Woden GP 2 port turned out great” – it’s the vehicle handling that stands out.

Each car has a noticeable weight to its inputs, listening to your co-driver while simultaneously reading the road is a must and braking is very definitely required. Satisfyingly, you can neatly tighten your line with a dab of the handbrake.

That solidity helps you stay on the right track, as running wide on an asphalt rally will see you scrub speed on rough surfaces. After a few crashes (car bodies do bend) and attuning my reflexes, I enter a flow state on a Finnish stage, engrossed as I make the finish line with a scant 0.2s spare.

“This project has been different from my previous ones,” continues Victor, with ViJuDa acting as a creative alias.

“I’ve focused almost obsessively on car handling and visual style. In past projects, I worked on everything simultaneously, which gave me a broad view of progress.

“But with Rally Edge, I spent a long time building the game’s foundation before adding content. 

“The chase-cam market is already saturated, and it’s hard to innovate. I believe almost everything has already been invented in racing games, but I still try to add my own personal touch to make it stand out.

“I hope players enjoy it. I think the art style is strong, and the other elements – like handling and progression –make Rally Edge a game I would love to play. I know I can’t compete with big-budget racing sims, but that’s not my goal.”

The free demo was released via Steam today, 23rd June 2025, and it features five surprisingly detailed cars, with five stages across four locations. This is just a small taster, for a final game expected to feature at least 100 cars and further tracks.

“I want to keep some surprises, but there will also be other types of stages in different settings to keep the game fresh,” teases the indie creator.

Like the prior Super Woden titles, there will be two main game modes: Arcade (tested here) and, this time, ‘Rally Edge’.

The latter should feature a greater sense of progression as the main career mode, with an event tree acting as a linchpin. From there, challenges branch off with accrued credits used to purchase vehicles.

According to the developer: “There will also be weekly events, similar to SWGP2, but this time with cloud-based score tracking. This will allow for long-term tournaments and different ranking levels based on player performance.”

While a final release date is not yet confirmed – “I don’t want to give an exact release date, however, I can confidently say it will be released this year” – this fleeting hands-on has us reaching for the tripmeters and maps in anticipation of its completion.