‘Mario Kart’ Meets Demolition Derby In ‘Joyride: Survival of the Fastest’
Smash or pass takes a whole new meaning in Joyride: Survival of the Fastest. It’s a race to the finish, assuming your car even works by the end.
Joyride: Survival of the Fastest is not like your typical racing game. While you are making laps around a course, shift gears, and making e-break turns, you’re also smashing each others’ cars, using oil slick and explosive mines, and making all manner of hectic chaos. It’s a rip roaring good time!
Joyride: Survival of the Fastest Overview
As stated, the goal of the game is to complete a number of laps, as determined by the scenario being played. The scenario will determine the exact course in the number and exact location of check points required to complete a lap, as well as various special rules and item drops.
But Joyride: Survival of the Fastest sets itself apart through good old fashioned demolition derby style mayhem. Players can (and occasionally should) smash into other cars. Either to impede their opponent’s movement, or o more easily come to a stop to make a hairpin turn.
Players movement will relay mostly on a pit of luck and strategy with dice rolls. Players will have a pool of dice, determined by the gearshift, which is turn controls their speed. But players can lock dice in order to maintain a better handle of their speed, or just putting the petal to the metal and gunning it.
Meanwhile, players have special abilities to use. Some are common for all players, but each car also has their own unique ability. What’s really nice about Joyride: Survival of the Fastest is the balance of how they handle recharging abilities. When completing a lap, a player can recharge one ability for each car that has completed the lap before them. So players trailing behind get a high number of ability recharges. Simple and effective game balance!
As cars gets smashed and blown up, they take damage and lose the ability to lock dice, hold weapons, and shift into higher gears. But cars are never fully destroyed. There is no player elimination in Joyride: Survival of the Fastest. Maybe it’s not fully thematic, but I have no taste for player elimination games. So I count that as a huge win.
Speaking of, the first player to complete the requisite number of laps in the scenario wins the game!
