iRacing Arcade Review – Serious Racing, Arcade Attitude

iRacing Arcade Review

iRacing Arcade launched on the Steam platform this March. The release of another arcade racer would not normally grab much attention. However, the pedigree of this one bearing the iRacing label sure has. In the realm of racing simulations, iRacing is a dominant player. With its subscription-based model, where one competes against other racing simulation enthusiasts, iRacing is the preeminent racing platform on PCs.

However, the cost of entry is fairly prohibitive. You need a decent rig and must be prepared to not only pay a monthly subscription fee but also pay additionally for the content you are interested in. In an insightful move, iRacing has teamed with game developer Original Fire Games to create the much more cost-accessible iRacing Arcade game. Initially released on Steam, the game has now launched on current-gen consoles. This review is based on the PlayStation version.

Not only is iRacing Arcade more cost-accessible, it is also much more time-accessible compared to its big brother. Hardcore PC sim gamers know that any PC simulation game, be it racing or flight, requires a tremendous time investment to attain the full experience offered by the simulation. Depending on what stage of life one is at, time is often at a premium. You may not have big free chunks of time. Or you may not be interested in diving deep into a racing sim, but still yearn for some visceral racing thrills. This is why arcade racers have a notable presence in the racing genre.

iRacing Arcade gives that quick-in, quick-out experience. You can jump into a race in mere seconds and finish in a couple of minutes. In sync with that experience, the art style mirrors that. The graphics lean into the arcade-ness. Original Fire Games scaled the graphics of real-world race tracks down to a Tonka-toy style. Despite the colorful, arcade-inspired art, everything is based on officially licensed cars and tracks. Don’t let the cuteness of the graphics fool you, though; this game also supports a full-on global career mode.

Off-Track Activities

The career mode is based on weekly events across licensed events. With your winnings, you earn boosts and resources that can be used to expand your facilities. These facilities include a garage to buy, house, and maintain your cars. Additionally, you can edit your cars and your racing suits. In keeping with the casual tone of the game, the editor is pretty basic. You can select body colors and a limited choice of liveries.

There is a research facility to improve the performance of your cars. You can also build an Engine Shop, a Chassis Shop, and a Team HQ. You can further personalize your Garage with the Decorations option. There is space in your HQ to display podium trophies won.A basic base builder where you can place purchased facilities on a map handles all these buildings. You can also inspect, relocate, or demolish facilities.

There are five difficulty levels of racing, starting with Amateur and progressing through Pro-Am, Pro, Master, and finally Superstar. There are 13 vehicles to race in a 13 Race Week Calendar and 20 Team Levels. The Team Levels follow 4 goal paths: Series, Driving, Customization, and Campus.

From the main menu, you can access the Career, Free Play, and Multiplayer game modes. There are also Time Attack, Previous Results, and Lobby management. From the Lobby, you manage multiplayer play to create, join, or access cross-play lobbies. Cross-play support is a biggie and should ensure the longevity of the game. There are also Settings for audio, extras, and controls.

Replay Restrictions

Finally, there is a History option that gives access to race replays. The game automatically records your races. The replay player is minimalistic in design with only play/pause controls and three camera views: player, TV, and free mode. There are a couple of weird oversights with replays.

First up, there is no control to exit a replay midway. You have to run through the entire video before you can return to the main menu. Next, there is no option to turn replays off. Equally odd is the lack of any way to delete replays in-game. Not even under the PS5 Storage Settings, as the replays don’t show up separately. The game size is small, 2.5GB, and the replay files are mere megabytes, but the lack of such basic functionality is puzzling.

There are five difficulty levels of racing, starting with Amateur and progressing through Pro-Am, Pro, Master, and finally Superstar. As you progress through the levels, the AI racing increases dramatically. Even though this is an arcade racer, the competition is stiff. Moving from Amateur up through Pro-Am and Pro will best your driving skills. You must build up your car fleet as well as improve their power and other abilities. Game progression depends on how you manage off-track activities.

As mentioned earlier, racing is based on weekly calendar events. The first week is a single race with a low-power Fiat 500. These cars are so underpowered you can run races without letting up on the gas. While the early races are not very challenging, these races make apparent the characteristics of the racing physics of the game.

Track Limits And Bumper Cars

iRacing Arcade enforces specific racing rules that add challenge to the races. The big one is the enforcement of track limits. Trying to take a shortcut or cut a corner will add two seconds to your time. The penalty is enforced immediately. You are reset on the track and can’t accelerate for the duration of the penalty. Once such penalty may not hurt you, but suffer a couple of them and podium finishes are out of reach.

The other factor to deal with is more arcade in nature. You will often start races at the back of the twelve-card field. This means navigating through the pack before you can get a clear track ahead. Until then, it’s a battle of bumper cars as you try to outmaneuver opponents. Your passes must be strategic because of the track limits. A poorly timed pass can result in your being bumped off the track and getting hit with a penalty. The opposite holds true, too. If you time it right, you can bump off an opponent not only to pass them but also to push them off the track. This is not racing at its purest, but it is the most frustrating or satisfying aspect of arcade racing.

Once you get to the front of the pack, a purer form of racing comes into play. You run the track just like you would in a more sim-based racer. You try to find the best racing line, brake at the best moment, and accelerate out of the corners as quickly as possible. Since the driving is done with a controller, doing so is difficult. A controller cannot match the precision of a steering wheel. Lack of precision and how you counteract it, is what arcade racers are about. It’s a disappointment that the game does not take advantage of the DualSense’s adaptive triggers for braking and accelerating. Nor does the game use the controller’s haptic feedback for collisions and hitting rumble strips.

Despite these shortcomings, the charms of the game are undeniable. The racing is fun. The art style charms, and the controls for an arcade racer feel solid. iRacing Arcade has that one more race hook that keeps you coming back for more.

Fun Times

If your time is precious and you’re looking for a racer that’s easy to pick up and play, iRacing Arcade is well worth your time. You can jump into the cockpit for a quick race or explore the game’s deeper features when you have more time to spare. And with cross-platform multiplayer, you can even race against friends regardless of which system they play on.

***PS5 Code provided by the publisher***