Think of an intense Tron-inspired, Wipeout and San Francisco Rush arcade racer all in one. Crazy, insane, cool, off-the-wall – the game Nitronic Rush brings out several adjectives to describe it’s gameplay. Though, the game’s officially website describes it best, “an experimental survival driving game”.  With all of the excitement aside Nitronic Rush really does bring a refreshing look of gameplay that contrasts a lot of the brown and gray color schemes in some games. The announcement trailer can speak for itself.

This game came out out last winter on November 11th. It started as a junior project at Digipen Institute of Technology as a school project. The environment will make you think of Tron, which isn’t a bad thing at all. Two movies inspired by video games are inspiring video games in return. And you don’t see much of that atmosphere in today’s games besides Saint’s Row: The Third. The bright colorful outlines contrast the black void of the space that the city and tracks dwell in.

Survival truly is an element in the gameplay since you must avoid crashing into lifts, pillars, lasers, blades, landing off the track and other obstacles. The car drives to break neck speeds as well as fly at during certain parts of the race. Stunts in the air are encouraged since they add to the score.

It features several racing modes: Story – a general race, Hardcore – racing with stunts, Challenge – a series of short challenges, Stunt Mode – a time trial of making the best points off of stunts rather than speed and Old Levels– tracks that were omitted before the final release.

Nitronic Rush won the Gamer’s Choice Award at the 2012 Indie Game Challenge and was given two honorable mentions at the 2012 Independent Games Festival. Nitronic Rush is available for free download from Nitronic-Rush.com/