Gas Gas Gas: JDM: Rise of the Scorpion First Look

There are very few arcade racing games being released that are worth your attention nowadays. Even fewer have some kind of idea or a gimmick behind them. JDM: Rise of the Scorpion is a very particular game that tries to capture the essence of Initial D, the hugely popular manga and anime series. And I do mean *spirit*, because it doesn’t try to just give you Initial D.

This game has been on my radar for quite some time now, because Japanese cars are one of my passions (and JDM stands for Japanese Domestic Market), and it features lots of my favs, like Mazda MX-5 and Subaru Impreza. I also very much enjoy Initial D, so the idea of going around the countryside while blasting Deja Vu or Wings of Fire in the background (no offense to the game’s sound, it’s just can’t hold a candle to those) was something I was very much looking forward to. And my short preview of this game (I wish there was more time to enjoy this game, but gamescom is coming up, with all the surrounding hustle and bustle) confirmed that this is exactly what I’m getting.

Now, if you’re also interested in the game like I was, I will ask you to temper your expectations. The game is not your AAA Need for Speed or Forza Horizon. It’s also not the entire game – it’s a playable prologue to the upcoming full release of JDM: Japanese Drift Master.

First and foremost – it’s very fun. You will have to adjust to the gameplay, of course – it has its quirks and learning curve. The car tends to oversteer, so you will need to be mindful not just to spin in every corner. I’ve tried JDM both with a controller and a racing wheel, and the latter didn’t work properly, though the developers did add the preset for my Logitech G29 which I will be testing later. The controller works perfectly fine – it’s not iRacing.

Holding the optimal angle for the high-speed drift will not be something you’ll do right away, so don’t be frustrated. You will spin, you will misjudge your entry speed and smash into walls, but it will come naturally to you – the steering is very responsive and snappy. Channel your inner kid that was flying down the canyon drift sections in NFS Carbon.

The game looks pretty and colorful – especially the rural countryside, but don’t expect the photorealism of Polyphony Digital’s or Turn 10’s titles: the game is being made by a small Polish team at Gaming Factory.

The story is presented through manga-style cut-ins with a surprisingly authentic visual style. It’s fun, and it’s also skippable if it’s not something you’re interested in.

The menus, UI, and other visual elements really do try, but they sadly look cheap. Again, not the worst thing to cheap out on if the core of your game is fun and looks as good as the cars and environments do.

There were, however, things that disappointed me. The major one is the stuttering I experienced in my playing sessions. My rig is not a pushover, and frankly, it shouldn’t even be a question of hardware for the game that looks like this. The devs are actively addressing the issues, but I found that the latest patch 1.2 didn’t fix it, as it was aimed at the AMD CPUs, and I’m on Intel.

I also encountered quite a lot of physics-based bugs, with some items flying around or the cars being rolled over on the road. Not quite sure what’s that about, but hopefully, it’s also addressed soon.

But hey, hey, don’t let this discourage you from playing. JDM: Rise of the Scorpion is a FREE prologue to the upcoming game. We don’t have a huge luxury of being choosy with our racing games lately, so I urge you to treat it like a Demo, try the game out and make a decision on the purchase of the full version. I know that I will be reviewing that one for sure.