Turbo Golf Racing, the proven mix between Rocket League, Mario Kart and Mario Golf Super Rush
Turbo Golf Racing
What happens when a game is hugely successful? Other titles inspired by it are produced, both because the developers were inspired by the quality of the video game, and because proposing something similar to a successful title allows you to more easily access a large audience and therefore earn. Is it good? Is it bad?You decide, because Turbo Golf Racing is undeniably similar to Rocket League, but at the same time it mixes the approach of karting games like those of Mario & Co., with a hint - of course - of golf in time real.
Thanks to a beta phase made available by the developers, we had the opportunity to try Turbo Golf Racing in a version that is certainly not definitive, but solid enough to give us an idea of how interesting there is in this game.
On the starting line
Turbo Golf Racing asks us to take a ball into the hole We repeat it. Yes, Turbo Golf Racing is very reminiscent of Rocket League and we're sure it's not just a coincidence. The graphic style, the toy cars, the big balls and also the controls and the feeling of the impacts with the ball seem to be taken directly from the Psyonix game. However, there are several new features.First of all, in this game the sport of choice is not football but golf. This is not a small difference, because it completely changes the structure of the playing field, the dynamics and purposes of each game and above all the type of interaction with other players changes. But let's take it one step at a time and start by seeing how a single hole works.
Each game requires you to bring your ball towards the final hole, that is a large chasm illuminated by a colored beam which also has an attractive effect and facilitates the insertion of the ball. Obviously, as this is a real-time game, the victory is not a consequence of the number of strokes required to reach the hole, but only the time required. It is a timed race against other players, who will try to get to the finish before us.
Turbo Golf Racing's hole This means that we have to take the ball with us, hitting it as hard as possible to make it travel longer in the air, but also be careful to strike in the correct direction. Unlike in Rocket League where missing a shot is not a big problem since the ball is always a few meters away and our allies are around us, in Turbo Golf Racing missing a shot is a serious waste of time because no one will continue the game. in our place.
In the midst of all this, we have to take a minimum of our opponents into account. You cannot directly interfere with their game, as the ball and the enemy machines are intangible, except with one tool: the rocket. In the style of karting games, there are power ups around the course, for now rockets or charges for the turbo (which works exactly like Rocket League). Rockets are the only way to hit an enemy and lose a second or two. It might seem like a small thing, but on average a Turbo Golf Racing hole is very short. The shorter routes can take less than 30 seconds once you understand how you need to move, while the longer ones hardly exceed a minute. Each race is divided into three holes and, as a result, each multiplayer session takes a few minutes to complete.
Upgrades
Each car can use two upgrades in Turbo Golf Racing Depending on of our results in a race, we earn experience points and in-game currencies. The same happens by completing the classic weekly and seasonal missions, which in the beta phase were of the type "play a certain number of games", "hit a number of enemies with missiles", "arrive first in a hole" and so on. By leveling up in the Season Pass (free in the beta, we take for granted paid in the final version), you get cosmetic items for our machines, in-game currencies and upgrade cores.The latter are a ' another peculiarity of Turbo Golf Racing. Unlike Rocket League where each car and each player can rely solely on their manual skills, in Turbo Golf Racing you can choose a maximum of two cores that give passive bonuses but also particular active abilities. The very first that unlocks is an increase in the speed of the turbo: in the first races against players who already had this boost we immediately noticed that at the start we were immediately behind, which shows the extent of the boost. However, there are even more useful skills, such as the ability to emit a wave of energy that pushes the ball: in our opinion this is a considerable power if used well, since it allows you to hit the ball even if we are badly positioned and not. therefore waste time maneuvering. Added to these are various other power-ups, some of which can be bought with the base in-game currency that is easily obtained by playing.
The idea of power-ups is interesting, but also potentially problematic. Assuming that none of these are only made available for real money payment (whether it is direct purchase or through the paid version of the Battle Pass), there is still a risk that between one season and the next the more regular players they find themselves with powerful and useful cores while the new players, or even the occasional ones who do not follow the competitive side too much, find themselves facing opponents with tools that they cannot in any way obtain. For now it is useless to stress too much about the matter, but during the review phase it will be an element that we will probably have to take into careful consideration.
Single player and paths
The paths are never too long in Turbo Golf Racing Up to this point we have only talked about multiplayer, but Turbo Golf Racing also offers another mode: single player. It is not a version of multiplayer played against the AI, mind you, but of timed challenges with unique aesthetic rewards. In practice, the game proposes the various courses that we will find in the competitive and asks us to go to the hole within a maximum time.In addition to being a pleasant addition that we did not take for granted at all, they are a great way for new players to get some experience without the stress of competitive. In sigle player you can train on the individual holes, to understand their particularities and understand what is the best course of action to follow.
In Rocket League (sorry for the constant confrontation, but it comes easy) only rarely the fields offer important differences that change the way you play. In Turbo Golf Racing what matters most is the structure of the course. It is not an empty straight but there are branches or even just areas of tall grass or sand that slow down, points where you get speed bonuses, flying circles that when hit with the ball throw it in the right direction, but also ramps, gradients and not only. Our car can also tackle "flights" with more safety thanks to wings that must be activated by the player to glide and overcome greater distances while chasing the ball.
For now, the variety of routes is pleasant: it will be It is important to propose something new on a regular basis, but this is a problem that we will have to analyze in the future. We also hope that multi-hole versions will appear among the game modes. Three holes guarantee a quick and enjoyable session, but with six or even nine holes you might have time to recover in case the first few holes see you defeated.
We also have a doubt, that the beta did not allow us to cliffs. The races place the players on a starting line, in a row: this means that the starting point is not the same for everyone and, depending on how the first part of the course is composed, certain positions will have an advantage since a straight shot will be enough. to be already positioned for the rest of the route, while others will have to get around the environmental obstacles right away. Perhaps, since balls and cars cannot touch each other, starting all players from the same spot would be more honest.
The truth is one: Turbo Golf Racing is by no means a 100% original product, but the final experience is much less Rocket League-like than you might think from the outside. The beta made us understand that it is a game designed even more for those who want to play alone and do not want to depend on the performance of other players, but above all the beta has left us with good feelings: the impression is that it is simply a game fun to play. We will have to understand how the final version will evolve, how the Battle Pass will be managed and if the system of upgrades will risk creating imbalances, but for the moment this seems to be a game to keep an eye on.
