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We first reported on 4PGP, a new retro-inspired racer from developer 3goo, last week. The game was originally released on the Switch and Switch 2 in May, but has now been released on Steam and PS5. We’ve played the first few hours of the Steam port and are pleased to report that the game plays great, with some decent retro-style graphics and punchy engine sounds. We feel 4PGP is a little light on content, mostly due to the lack of online multiplayer, but let’s get into the details.
The main game is broken down into four Grand Prix championships, each with three different tracks. For each championship, you can select from four difficulty options and a range of cars that pay homage to the F1 cars of the 90s. We didn’t try the easy mode and went straight into the normal mode, choosing a car that had a balanced range of acceleration, speed, and handling in its stats. Right from the off, we were whizzing around tracks that were based on real-life F1 tracks without being the same.
The handling in 4PGP is excellent, and we quickly picked up the turns and used the boost, which works similarly to the boost mechanic in F-Zero GX by replenishing in the pit lane. We even shouted out “you’ve got boost power” as we successfully refilled our boost meter a few times. The computer opponents are just the right side of aggressive, and do try to take you out occasionally. It didn’t take long to master the normal difficulty, and we unlocked a new car with each successful championship win following the three races.
Getting a new car in 4PGP is great, and the additional stats, especially around overall speed, make you feel as if you’re making real progress. We moved to the next difficulty, and this is where the game really picked up in the excitement and challenge stakes. It took us quite a while to win a race on the higher diffiuclty and we had the sense of playing an arcade game from the 90s, where the computer opponents felt a little unfair, but became easier to beat as you grow in confidence and skill.
Once we unlocked some more cars and had seen most of what the Grand Prix had to offer, we tried the time attack and single race mode, where reversed tracks and the chance to hone the corners were on offer. This is where we started to feel that 4PGP lacks in the content department. There is no online multiplayer, so we were unable to try our skills against human opponents, but there is a four-player local mode which we sadly we couldn’t try out.
Overall, 4PGP looks and sounds the part and has some great handling and a good range of cars to suit all abilities and racing tastes. It felt fast on our PC, playing at a buttery smooth 60fps with a very good sense of speed, especially during the races on the higher difficulty levels. We do recommend this as a good arcade racer, but on the caveat that it will probably be great in the local multiplayer mode or if you want a game you can complete over a weekend in single-player.
