Neo Drift Out

Visco isn't exactly the first developer you think of when you recall arcade classics from the 1990's. Their games are often seen as bland and generic knock-offs of the more popular games of the day. Despite their reputation, though, the development team at Visco were responsible for three of the Neo-Geo's most underrated games: Breaker's Revenge, Andro Dunos, and Neo Drift Out. While the Breaker's games and Andro Dunos got lost in the shuffle of dozens of other fighting and shooting games in the arcade despite being quite solid overall, Neo Drift Out was a pretty unique affair. After all, by the time Neo Drift Out was released the arcade industry had moved on from 2D racers to fully 3D affairs with break out hits like Sega's Daytona USA and Namco's Ridge Racer. Hell, Neo Drift Out competed directly with Sega's masterpiece 3D rally racer Sega Rally Championship.

The Neo-Geo isn't known for its racing games, either. Games like Riding Hero and Thrash Rally were early releases in the Neo-Geo library that had some good ideas but felt woefully undercooked when compared to other arcade hits at the time from developers like Sega. It would be another five years before both ADK and Visco would release the final two racing games on the hardware in the form of ADK's Overtop and Visco's Neo Drift Out. Neo Drift Out is a continuation of Visco's Drift Out series, and the only game in the series to be released on SNK's hardware. Despite competing directly with Overtop, Neo Drift Out is considered by hardcore Neo-Geo fans as the better of the two games in design, presentation, and control.

If you've never heard of Neo Drift Out it's not surprising. Neo Drift Out never received an AES release at home, and had a pretty limited Neo CD release only in Japan. It also has never seen an official re-release on modern consoles either. Although, the publisher Columbus Circle did release a limited run of modern AES carts a few years ago along with a few other Visco games. These are officially licensed reproduction cartridges of questionable quality, though. It's a shame, too. Neo Drift Out is one of the best isometric 2D racing games of the classic era and I wish there were more ways for people unfamiliar with the more obscure end of the Neo-Geo's library to discover and play this fun rally racer. 

So, what does the game have to offer? Let's dig in. 

Neo Drift Out is a rally racing game akin to its 3D brethren like 1995's Sega Rally Championship. Upon starting a game, players can choose from three fully licensed rally cars that were popular in the late 90's:

• Mitsubishi's Lancer is the beginner's car with low top speed and tight, responsive handling.

• Subaru's WRX is the mid-range car with a higher top speed and middling handling.

• Toyota's Celeca squarely puts the game in hard mode with a high top speed and loose handling.

After selecting your car you are whisked away to a practice stage. This short track gives you about a minute to get used to the controls and feel of the game without any consequences. Once you pass the goal line, though, the real game begins. 

Rather than race against other cars, Neo Drift Out is a series of time-trials where you must navigate windy, rally-inspired tracks full of obstacles like barrels, jumps, and other cars that can impede your progress to the next check-point. There are six unique tracks based on the most popular rally spots around the world. Your goal is to reach each checkpoint, and finally the finish line of each track before time runs out. If time runs out the game allows to you progress to the next checkpoint or finish line, but then it's game over. 

Somewhat surprisingly, the two button control setup is instantly intuitive and easy to adapt to despite the isometric viewpoint. The A button is your throttle and the B button is your break. Nudging right and left on the arcade stick will turn your car in the direction you want to go. Like Sega Rally, there is an announcer and an icon that flashes on the screen to warn you of upcoming turns and hazards a few seconds ahead of time. Because there are so few games like this, it's hard to explain just how good the controls feel. This is first and foremost a game about pattern recognition, and the controls fit the twitch style response you'll need to have at fast speeds in order to make it through each track unscathed. After just a couple races to wrap your head around the controls, you'll be beating your own high-scores in no time.

Neo Drift Out has a surprising amount of variety in locals with each track representing its home country with little flourishes that pay homage to the culture and landscape. Not that you'll have much time to notice as you whizz by roadside attractions at a never-wavering 60 frames per second. This game is smooth, and there is nary a hiccup in performance to be found across the six main tracks. The presentation is also on point, with stylized stage titles, a beautiful title screen, and well drawn and animated cars. Sprite scaling is also some of the best looking on the Neo as the camera closes in and pulls back at certain intervals to give you the best view of upcoming obstacles. Throughout the entire experience you have a killer sense of speed without ever feeling out of control. Static screenshots and even videos do not do this game justice. You have to play it for yourself to see and feel the brilliance on display.

Matching the smooth graphics, the sound design is also on point. Engine noise, breaks, and exhaust pipe pops all sound convincing enough for the modest hardware, and the announcer's voice is clear and enthusiastic. He gets really sad when it's game over. The music is great as well, with upbeat racing tunes that never get in the way of the action and enhance the thrill of whipping around tight corners at high speeds. 

Neo Drift Out is a surprisingly robust and fun racing game on hardware that is not known for having standout games in this genre. The sublime controls, great presentation, and good sound design make Neo Drift Out an easy pick up and play arcade game. My only gripe here is that the game is relatively easy and short overall, making you wish there was a bit more content. That said, Visco really hit a home-run with this game. The isometric view won't be to everyone's tastes, but I whole heartedly recommend all gamers who enjoy classic arcade games to give it a shot. I think you'll find there is a lot to love here, or at least appreciate even if the approach isn't your cup of tea. 

MVS carts aren't the most common to come by, but you can get a legit copy for around $250 or so if you're patient. A complete kit will cost upwards of $600 or more - if you can find one. As I mentioned before, you can also get this game on Neo CD. That said, this is one of the few instances where the Neo CD release is substantially more expensive than the MVS original at $350 - $700 for a complete copy. Visco took to time to further iron out a few of the kinks in the MVS original in the CD release, so you can think of the CD release as the definitive version of the game. Finally, you can get a modern licensed reproduction of the game on AES if you so desire, but these carts will run you no less than $450 on the low end. You could also pick up a conversion or unlicensed reproduction for much less if you must have it on AES at all costs.

To find out more about the Neo CD release, check out the guest review of that version by Digmac from the Neo-Geo.com forums.