Nitronic Rush
released on Dec 11, 2011
Nitronic Rush is an experimental survival driving game developed by students at DigiPen Institute of Technology. Using the car’s many abilities (including boost, wings, and jump), avoid obstacles that the city throws at you. In many ways the game is a tribute to racing games of the 1990′s, but with fresh graphics, audio, and gameplay.
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Nitronic Rush walked so Distance could RUN
It's a tron-inspired music album that comes with a free playable audio visualizer!
this goes hard and its free so harder
Nitronic Rush has the foundation of something absolutely incredible - a self-described "survival driving" game that has you hurtling down gravity-defying tracks at blistering speeds, slamming the most extreme stunts possible to ward off the constant threat of self-destruction, a threat fuelled purely by your desperation to never let go of the turbo button.
At its peak, this game makes you feel like a god. A zen ascension beyond this plane that could only be achieved by mastering this game's beautifully eccentric control scheme and absolutely tearing with it. Catapulting off a ramp, chaining 12 midair barrel rolls in the span of seconds and landing just in time to nail the next set of 180-degree upside-down barrel flips. And it's not just for style - you have a reason to pull these off. Even just landing the bare minimum of what the tracks demand can feel amazing, especially on the Hardcore stages, which get tough even before factoring in score or time attack. Nitronic Rush is at its best when you're flying through insane courses with a speed and flow that only Nitronic Rush could allow.
Sometimes, though, the flow is broken. In some parts, it's down to the physics - the game loves having you drive up the side of walls or upside-down, but doesn't centre your gravity onto the road you're currently on - small bumps end up being much more punishing on these rotations as you risk losing enough speed to outrun gravity, and end up falling off an otherwise normal stretch of road. In others, it's down to the level design - the "survival" part of the game refers to not only the boost mechanic, but also the levels themselves. Crashing at high speeds will instantly detonate your car, and some levels take full advantage by sprinkling in hazards to avoid - in most cases they're reasonable enough to react to and outmaneuver, but sometimes they can feel a little excessive.
That said, I'll take an experience with slightly flawed embellishments if it's able to totally knock it out of the park in creativity. Nitronic Rush is a student project, and that shines through crystal clear in how willing it is to be different. I don't know if Distance will solve my isues with this game, or refine it in the way that I'd personally love to see it, but I'm still incredibly excited to play it! Developers willing to push genre boundaries deserve much more of a spotlight - it feels hard to find cool games like this nowadays, and I'm glad I managed to find this one.
At its peak, this game makes you feel like a god. A zen ascension beyond this plane that could only be achieved by mastering this game's beautifully eccentric control scheme and absolutely tearing with it. Catapulting off a ramp, chaining 12 midair barrel rolls in the span of seconds and landing just in time to nail the next set of 180-degree upside-down barrel flips. And it's not just for style - you have a reason to pull these off. Even just landing the bare minimum of what the tracks demand can feel amazing, especially on the Hardcore stages, which get tough even before factoring in score or time attack. Nitronic Rush is at its best when you're flying through insane courses with a speed and flow that only Nitronic Rush could allow.
Sometimes, though, the flow is broken. In some parts, it's down to the physics - the game loves having you drive up the side of walls or upside-down, but doesn't centre your gravity onto the road you're currently on - small bumps end up being much more punishing on these rotations as you risk losing enough speed to outrun gravity, and end up falling off an otherwise normal stretch of road. In others, it's down to the level design - the "survival" part of the game refers to not only the boost mechanic, but also the levels themselves. Crashing at high speeds will instantly detonate your car, and some levels take full advantage by sprinkling in hazards to avoid - in most cases they're reasonable enough to react to and outmaneuver, but sometimes they can feel a little excessive.
That said, I'll take an experience with slightly flawed embellishments if it's able to totally knock it out of the park in creativity. Nitronic Rush is a student project, and that shines through crystal clear in how willing it is to be different. I don't know if Distance will solve my isues with this game, or refine it in the way that I'd personally love to see it, but I'm still incredibly excited to play it! Developers willing to push genre boundaries deserve much more of a spotlight - it feels hard to find cool games like this nowadays, and I'm glad I managed to find this one.
Sick gameplay and a banger soundtrack. Can't believe there aren't more off-the-wall crazy racing games like this. Boosting the car off the road and wall-riding and even ceiling-riding is so goddamn satisfying and cool I can't get enough of it. This game is literally free, I don't understand why more people aren't talking about it, or DISTANCE for that matter, it's a damn crime.
I had first played DISTANCE many years ago through my Cousin's Steam library, back when the game was still in early access. I mostly have my fun messing around with the Steam Workshop levels and the Transmogrify mode, which allowed seeds of levels to be generated in a way similar to MINECRAFT.
Recently I actually went through the effort of uh, actually playing through the campaign of DISTANCE. It was awesome! I had never quite played a Car Game like DISTANCE before, and I wanted more. I learn that NITRONIC RUSH is the spiritual predecessor of DISTANCE, made as a student project in the early 2010s.
I did not expect to like NITRONIC RUSH more! But why is this? The student project vs The Kickstarter project would make you think the latter would be more enjoyable. Make no mistake: both games are masterpieces, and I don't think the Kickstarter is why I like DISTANCE less. DISTANCE is still more polished, more customizable, more moddable. Yet I find it less fun. I feel like NITRONIC RUSH was made to maximize enjoyment and experimentation in a small Container of Game. Going through NITRONIC RUSH takes a fraction of the time it takes in DISTANCE, but this means that you learn concepts quicker, less is more in this case as the level design pushes these concepts farther than DISTANCE does.
There's also some things that are just better and leave me baffled that they removed these things in DISTANCE. NITRONIC RUSH has a more intuitive control scheme, and the drift option being on the right analog stick makes going through corners so much more fun. Drifting isn't really a thing in DISTANCE, at least not nearly as prominently. That's a major movement option here. I also find that steering here is less realistic, which helps because you yourself are in a vehicle that goes much faster. There is this exhileration to NITRONIC RUSH that doesn't exist in DISTANCE, at least not in story mode. Everything from the level design, UI, even just things like how quickly you can get back to the game after dying: It's all swift and gets you to the point immediately and that makes a big difference! NITRONIC RUSH captures me in a way that DISTANCE didn't.
It also has some really intense rumble! I love intense rumble man, make my hands and body quake and you already got a lot of my heart! Still, play both please
Basically, NITRONIC RUSH resembles OUTRUN more than DISTANCE... so of course I like it more
Recently I actually went through the effort of uh, actually playing through the campaign of DISTANCE. It was awesome! I had never quite played a Car Game like DISTANCE before, and I wanted more. I learn that NITRONIC RUSH is the spiritual predecessor of DISTANCE, made as a student project in the early 2010s.
I did not expect to like NITRONIC RUSH more! But why is this? The student project vs The Kickstarter project would make you think the latter would be more enjoyable. Make no mistake: both games are masterpieces, and I don't think the Kickstarter is why I like DISTANCE less. DISTANCE is still more polished, more customizable, more moddable. Yet I find it less fun. I feel like NITRONIC RUSH was made to maximize enjoyment and experimentation in a small Container of Game. Going through NITRONIC RUSH takes a fraction of the time it takes in DISTANCE, but this means that you learn concepts quicker, less is more in this case as the level design pushes these concepts farther than DISTANCE does.
There's also some things that are just better and leave me baffled that they removed these things in DISTANCE. NITRONIC RUSH has a more intuitive control scheme, and the drift option being on the right analog stick makes going through corners so much more fun. Drifting isn't really a thing in DISTANCE, at least not nearly as prominently. That's a major movement option here. I also find that steering here is less realistic, which helps because you yourself are in a vehicle that goes much faster. There is this exhileration to NITRONIC RUSH that doesn't exist in DISTANCE, at least not in story mode. Everything from the level design, UI, even just things like how quickly you can get back to the game after dying: It's all swift and gets you to the point immediately and that makes a big difference! NITRONIC RUSH captures me in a way that DISTANCE didn't.
It also has some really intense rumble! I love intense rumble man, make my hands and body quake and you already got a lot of my heart! Still, play both please
Basically, NITRONIC RUSH resembles OUTRUN more than DISTANCE... so of course I like it more