Turbo Sliders Unlimited has been hanging around Steam Early Access for a couple of years now, impressing players with its unique brand of over-the-top action and claustrophobic top-down racing (it’s an ‘over-the-top-down-racer’, then).
Developed entirely by Antti Mannisto, TSU’s full version was finally released on the 12th of September, bringing with it several game modes, huge customisability and full Steam Workshop integration.
For an indie game, TSU boast an impressive amount of content but does it form one, cohesive package?
Features
TSU is jam-packed with game modes. Seriously, there are sumo, parkour, football, tag, capture-the-flag, team weapons battle and deathmatch modes. It’s not your average racing game, then, evoking classics like Micro Machines or Super Cars II thanks to its grippy handling and vehicular combat (but no Alfa Romeo SZs this time, sadly).
The main single-player campaign is made up initially of 30 themed events (10 of which are time trials), with the game placing certain restrictions on you in each one.
Some races allow you to use rockets to blast your opponents out of the way, while others see your rivals equally well-armed and willing to knock you off one of the perilous cliffs littering TSU’s roster of vanilla tracks. Herman Tilke definitely didn’t design these courses…
Speaking of which, the game’s tracks are unsurprisingly off-the-wall, with jumps, cambers and death-defying drops punctuating campaign mode, with players able to design their own outlandish creations and share them seamlessly to the Steam Workshop.
It works brilliantly, allowing you and your friends to race on custom tracks in seconds, but I found TSU’s servers to be completely dead, which is a little surprising given it’s only been three weeks since the game released.
Gameplay
Races do exactly what they say on the tin, but other modes like sumo, parkour, football and deathmatch showcase TSU’s lovingly crafted physics and hilarious multiplayer potential, reminding me of party games like Fall Guys or even the car-based You Suck at Parking. I’m sure it’s good fun, especially after a light beverage or five…
I say ‘sure’ as I couldn’t try these modes as they are online-only. Due to the demands of AI construction and the lack of active online players, these modes aren’t available offline, so you’re restricted to ‘normal’ racing instead.
The racing is frantic, however, and the frequent disparities in car performance in each race make things particularly interesting.
The cars handle intuitively and feature different strengths and weaknesses. The starter car is a Toyota GT86/Subaru BRZ clone named the ‘Sporty’. It’s very much a jack-of-all-trades, having no particular downsides, but it struggles against the straight-line prowess of the Ford Mustang-like ‘Speedy’.
My favourite car, however, is the ‘Grippy’, which is a four-wheel-drive truck that sticks to the asphalt like chewing gum to hair. I much preferred TSU’s handling with grippier cars as the action flies by a little too quickly to make the driftier models fun to play around with (or my reflexes are just deteriorating as I get old).
There are three camera angles to pick from: the top-down view is arguably less effective than the more perfunctory swingman option, which was my preferred view. Graphics are understandably simplistic but colourful and functional.
Performance
However, I experienced some frame drops when barrelling into hairpins with 19 other cars, which is disappointing considering I used a fairly powerful gaming laptop. This was a rare occurrence, though.
The single-player career will only take two-to-three hours to complete so the game’s longevity hinges on its multiplayer mode, including its four-player local split-screen mode.
Unfortunately, without a group of invested friends, you may struggle to find enough human opponents online right now, but grids are at least filled out automatically by AI cars (join the official TSU Discord to network with like-minded players is my top tip).
Racing against the AI can be rather tricky by default, it certainly takes a bit of practice to master each level in the campaign, with collisions generally forgiving (and they have to be, given the AI’s aggressiveness).
Exhaust notes are serviceable, but by no means exemplary, as is the music, which is an acquired taste (part of the main title music reminds me of the deliberately lo-fi Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace theme). I have found myself absent-mindedly whistling the main menu tune all week, though.
Conclusion
TSU is a fantastically varied racing game that, thanks to its customisation options, is endlessly replayable.
The single-player campaign is fairly limited, however, and its multiplayer is reliant on a seemingly patchy player base, but if you can find a small community of players or have like-minded friends then TSU’s brand of outlandish car-based tomfoolery will delight and frustrate in equal measure.
Turbo Sliders Unlimited’s huge array of modes and content is an impressive feat by its solo developer. If you love retro-inspired racing games with hints of the glory days of Micro Machines then it’s a must-buy, especially if you plan on playing online.
| Developer | Antti Mannisto |
| Release date | 12th September 2024 |
| Available platforms | PC Steam (Windows and Linux) |
| Version/s tested | PC Steam (Windows) |
| Best played with | Gamepad |
Full disclosure: A game code was provided by the developers for review purposes. Here is our review policy.
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