Absolute Drift

toooop game!

Had a lot of fun with this game! Hope they make an expansion!

You ever finished a game that made you go "Man, that was awesome! I am now going to uninstall and never touch this game ever again for trauma reasons!" Absolute Drift is that game for me. I've 100%ed the game while getting at least top 30% on most of the tracks. It's a game I highly recommend getting, especially on a sale. Anyway, here are some more thoughts on the game.

What I Liked

The Cars

This game has a small selection of vehicles to go to town with, and I appreciate each of them for what they offered. I won't go into details because it's hard to explain the feel of driving these things, but just know that each one varies in their driving style, and none feel like carbon copies of each other. That being said the missile is hands down my favorite of the bunch. It's really fast and yet easy to maneuver with and make those controlled slides. I did try the cars that came after it, but none could hold a candle to how comfy the missile felt.

Visuals & Music

Absolute Drift's visuals are very simple, but this definitely works in the game's favor. Almost everything is made of simple geometry and bright, flat colors, The limited palette they used throughout also makes the game stand out.
Though nowhere near as expansive as its successor, art of rally, this game's soundtrack is a banger through and through. It, with the help of the map design, puts the game into a dreamy atmosphere, where you can just unwind and vibe out while you make donuts and whatnot.

Free-roam & Individual Tracks

I really like how they created each world and gave them their unique themes that seem to evolve and get more detailed as you progress. The connective parts between the worlds is actually my favorite little touch. From World 3-5, you don't just cross a bridge to make it to the next zone, you have to do a little touge run up a hill, which gives you that little but more immersion as you can live out the fantasy of driving around the actual hills of Japan. The minigames in each zone are frankly quite simple, drift here, spin there, jump over this, etc., but it's a nice incentive for you to explore this playground you've been given and ogle at the landmarks around you.
As for each of the tracks, they also fit the theme of the zone they're located in. From ports, to train stations, to tight streets surrounded by residential buildings, it gives each track a special feel.

Mission Design

There are 4 gamemodes, but it's basically two: drifting, driftkhana, mountain drift (basically a non-circuit drift) and a midnight version of mountain drift. These all hold a checklist of tasks they want you to do, which you have to complete a certain amount to unlock the midnight drifts of each zone. Overall, these checklists are fun to get along with trying to get the highest score, with the regular drifts having clipping poles and drifting lines that give a boatload of points when you do the perfectly, and driftkhanas adding on some large cylinders to donut around and squares to spin within. I personally am not a fan of how the spinning within the squares don't give you any points, which can make your combos end prematurely, therefore deincentivizing you to play with them when you're not doing them for a side objective, but beyond that (and the one point of contention I have with this game), they're a good bunch of variety that keeps you from feeling too monotonous throughout.

What I Liked Less (basically just one thing)

CLIPPING POLES

Oh my god these things are soooo janky. Sometimes, they work in your favor, where they'll still register even when you ram into them and bounce off, but most of the time (when it doesn't function normally), they struggle to register if you've drifted near them. From the first them I saw those poles to the final race I had to interact with them with, they were a pain to deal with. However, one track, Okoyama stands above the rest of the most infuriating track in the game. The map's design is already not fun to play with, being a driftkhana with lots of large barriers/donut circles that obstruct your drift, but a mission too that demands TWENTY FIVE POLES. Those were just... not fun.

Smaller UI Gripes & Bugs

This is a very small section, but it's worth mentioning. Whenever I did a run multiple times, there's always a chance that the game will yoink my controllers and steer the car straight into the wall, literally giving me controller drift. This doesn't happen in freeroam nor on the first attempt of any track, so I have no idea why this happens. Also, the scoring UI is kinda frustrating; why is the gaming showing me the multiplied score on the thing I scored on when the actually score at the top will only show its non-multiplied form? I know "big number = neuron activation" and all, but the inconsistency just bugs me.



Well, that's all. This game was really fun for the time that I played it in, and though there were a few rough patches and I did begin to feel a bit burnt out near the end (I spent an hour and a half on the final midnight track, that was truly hell), I pushed through and got to bask in the glory of 100% this game. Thanks for reading, sorry if I hurt your brain with my ranting, and I hope you're willing to give this game a shot!

pure and simple. great music.

what more could I ask for?

Okay
Add ᴳay Sex and we can talk

T'is fiya

Get it on sale if it's cheap enough. Fun game, however not all that much to do. All the achievements were fairly easy and the game had limited content but fun gameplay

Before this game my drift very shit. But after this game i drift ur mama.

I rate this 9/11

Anyone who says its not "zen" is just skill gapped.

I really liked how you have to build skill to do nice drifts and complete all the challenges. The physicals are very enjoyable.

this game is awesome, ive played it for a little while and it honestly is the most relaxing game. gearbox in manual, the super and hooniwagon stomp in 3rd and 4th ;)

- Can't change controls
- Optimisation issues (in-game vsync nor third party vsync can't get stable fps on this game)
- What's with the diagonal UI? lol
- Elevator music


Not a "zen edition" as advertised. FYI adding some "chill" music to your game doesn't make it zen

This game has a good art style and a good soundtrack, and also is a great concept, but the execution is just so poor. This game is WAY to hard to be any sort of relaxing zen, but while many people have said this game has realistic drifting, they are very much wrong. You have very very minimal control of your car, so lets say you start a drift if you just turn a little to much or little it is ruined, there is 0 room for error. The cars also go way to slow, so often times its hard to maintain or start a drift because the cars wont have enough speed. The near complete lack of UI also doesn't help at all, there is no speedometer to know how fast you are going. The best get is tiny box in the corner that tells you your gear, if you have manual gearbox enabled. The physical UI the appears in the environment is really cool though. This game really just isn't good for a casual player, it has a specific audience, and that is someone who really wants to be good at this game, and it doesn't really match anyone else. As other people have said, it will take HOURS before you get even close to good at this game, which just isn't at all what is advertised. Major disappointment.

Great and fun game

This seems to be a fun game, but the lack of control customization made it near impossible for me to play at all. If you are fine with the given control schemes, this game will most likely be very fun for you.

Let's start with the good. This game absolutely nails the physics involved in drifting, on top of nailing the clean aesthetics that never distracts you from your drifting. Both creating a state where in the right conditions, the world becomes smaller and your focus narrows down to just drifting your car around the entirety of the track. Zen if you will.

The bad is the game's learning curve can be unforgiving and make the first couple hours of playing frustrating as you spin out and smash into walls. A more substantial tutorial mode would be a welcomed addition, but this would completely compromise the game's design and style. The developers have anticipated this by making challenges low stakes, Hints and tips, optional ghost modes to watch the top players drift, and every open world area laid out to serve as a practice course you can experiment in.

Absolute Drift does what it sets out to do exceptionally well, and if you're into drift culture its absolutely worth your time. It rewards patience, finesse and commitment, and these are hard earned. Your only barrier of entry is your ability to perform the perfect drift after countless attempts, only to say to yourself "okay, so what did I do differently there".

Super fun game. You can unlock all of the free roam mode without doing any events which I appreciate a ton.

fun

It absolutely kills me that the control scheme from art of rally is not available in this game. Clutch button on the triangle is super awkward compared to left shoulder.

very chill game about drifting.

car goes skrrt skrrt

Not super easy to get learn, really fun once you do.
Super hard to master, but SOOO good when you get it.

Utter trash piling up in my library because the demo was nice and it's indie: Exhibit A.

pretty cool game and I really like the music!

way way way better physics than i expected. fun chill little game.

very good game

Gives me the same feeling that drifting a hot wheels across my school desk did

fun game but needs more settings for controller and just car settings in general.

car go vrrrooomm drift hehe broommmdrdrdrbrrrrooooommmmm

drif

Drift feels like shit. Does a game about drifting and puts me in a 10 000 pounds 2003 toyota echo

i can't drift

Pure drifting joy with great music and a very zen feeling to it - the devs knew what they had when they called it "Zen Edition".

There's a bit of a learning curve to it - I even bounced off of it once, but it's far from being as difficult as some reviews may suggest. Also, you do get better you get the more you play - shocking, I know.

Can highly recommend to all fans of driving/drifting.

The game works beautifully on the Steam Deck and is great for playing in short bursts on the go.

Micro Machines Drift Edition

It's a nice idea but the execution was terrible.
+ Nice artstyle
+ Interesting cars and references (though just super known vehicles are present)
+ Many maps and challenges

- Terrible driving physics
- Terrible collision physics
- Annoying tasks
- Repetitive gameplay, far beyond the "take the same turn over and over until you mastered it"-idea
- Annoying texts and descriptions
- Annoying sounds
- Second gear? What's that?

tricky but enjoyable, some of the later cars drift better. sometimes you catch the perfect arc and it is very sweet. nice liquid drum n bass. very minimalist aesthetic but better for clarity. the rotating red crosses should have been indicated as essential to progression in the gymkana/freeroam. cool night time lighting.

This game offers a smooth and stylish drift racing experience with a focus on precision and control. Its minimalistic design and relaxing soundtrack make it perfect for both casual play and honing your drifting skills. Great for fans of racing games who enjoy a serene, skill-based challenge.

dope