Speed Limit is probably one of the weirder games I played this year (and it’s only February!). It’s mostly a game of mastering each level – and dying a lot while doing so. If you are into arcade-style rollercoasters, this might just fit your bill.
Speed Limit?
Fight – Die – Repeat. A thrilling genre-switching rollercoaster that will test the limits of your reflexes. Speed Limit is a non-stop genre-warping arcade experience that never slows down. No cuts, no lapses in the chaos, Speed Limit is an old-school action extravaganza boiled down to its core elements: Hard. Fast. Addictive – or at least, that’s how the publisher described it.
Does Speed Limit start on a train? Or a metro? Not sure, but start running because you are targeted at gunpoint. Run, crouch and shoot the enemies in your way without getting any closer to the game’s plot. Oh, and as soon as you think you’ve learned how the game works, it changes to a completely different genre, taking you through the history of the golden arcade era. Hop into sidescrolling car action while taking down bad guys and dying in the process. Blink again, and it changed up into top-down car action – while maintaining the simple control scheme of two to three buttons. Talking about the golden age of the arcade, yes, I noticed many winks, nudge in the whole setting – especially when we’re talking about achievements (which I will not spoil, but excellent job).
Genre-Hopping
Due to this, you get to play through a nail-biting side-scrolling shooter, race to the finish in an explosive top-down car chase, take flight in a thrilling fake-3D dogfight, and expect the unexpected. It keeps the game fresh, but the difficulty curve keeps you on your toes. I did not like everything about Speed Limit, even though it seamlessly changes styles, transforms the gameplay, and offers new challenges when you feel comfortable. Some parts were extremely frustrating and unplayable in docked mode. The speed, changes, and reaction-actions gave me a headache (which could also cause Lockdown-tiredness?). So if you are going to pick this up, play it in handheld mode.
Daaaaanger Zone
So, to conclude – if you like a wide mix of arcade-style games with the difficulty of Dark Souls? Pick up Speed Limit. If you want to play a particular arcade classic, it’s better to hop on over to either the Hamster re-releases on the Switch or hit up the NSO system. The same difficulty, but a set genre, instead of hopping all over the place (which can be a good thing, I’m just conflicted). This one won’t be on my replay-list, though they changed up many of the core concepts of arcade gaming.
