Platform(s): PC (version reviewed)
Genre: Racing, Parking Lot, Sega Rally throwback, 90s

Rarely do games have their entire premise summarized in one eloquent title. Parking Garage Rally Circuit, a retro-inspired 3D racing game from one-man indie studio Walaber Entertainment LLC, is a rally game that takes place in parking lots. Giant parking lots that belong to possibly made-up malls, stadiums, and giant buildings. 3-floor parking lots with big real estate, vertical parking lots that are stacked up high and make you drive in circles, and even ones in giant parks: this retro-tailored game’s got it all.

As you can tell from the images, this rally game is specifically tailored for fans of 90s 3D racing games of the Sega arcade variety. If names like Sega Rally and Daytona USA, or even SCUD Racing, don’t tickle your fancy, you may not get the throwback vibes emanating from this title. For the rest of you who want the oldest kind of retro racing challenge? You have up to eight massive parking lot/garage courses to bring your Light/Heavy/Ultra class vehicles, each with their own speed and quirks. You’ll be competing with ghost racers, where placing podium finishes (top three) will net you the next course. Finish all eight of them, and you unlock the next class and even online ghost cars of other online players with the same skill level as yours.

Let’s Go Away, Let’s Go Away

Repetition, practice, and drifting are the name of the game here, as the game focuses more on the latter racing mechanic for you to get ahead. The drifting controls are what makes this game: they’re arcade-like and pretty tight, though at times you wonder if the developer ripped it straight out of the better Mario Kart games. Regardless, they just make you want to keep on racing, drifting, speeding, and repeating ad nauseum due to how difficult these parking lot tracks can get.

All the parking lot courses in this rally title are curvy, full of sharp turns, and can be maze-like in nature unless you’ve gone through the course more than twice. They’re all fun in their own way, but get very challenging and can end up confusing you if you don’t get enough practice off of it. One particular track, the New Orleans Stadium, has its electricity and lights shut off, so I needed to remember where the turns and drifting speed-up spots are in the dark and with minimal visibility from my headlights.

Still, if you need slick Sega Saturn-style racing that’s just about drifting in style and full of winding turns and loops, you can’t go wrong with Parking Garage Rally Circuit. It’s not a complicated sim affair, but it isn’t meant to be since it’s straightforward and focused on what it’s delivering, wrapped up in a quaint purposefully old-school 3D wrapping.

Final Score: 70/100

Review code provided by publisher.