More booba than Gawr Gura!

A review copy was provided by the developer.

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Honestly, I'm not sure when Street Racing Syndicate (SRS) made its way into my library. It isn't a title I'm familiar with, but seeing how it was released in 2005, I wanted to drag it from history, and get around to it sooner than later. Certain aspects of the game show its age more than others, with the gameplay not really fitting my own preferences for a racing title.


Putting aside some of my issues with the game's handling and age, I still wouldn't be interested in the main game mode, because of an odd thing it focused on. When competing in races, you'll earn and lose points based on your driving. Making turns with style, drifting well, and passing others increases the respect you earn, while getting overtaken or crashing into anything decreases your points. The total points you can accumulate per race is 3,000, and even if you came in first place, not earning enough respect could be a factor in the progress you make. To me, I could care less about such an idea, as winning at all costs is the only thing I've ever cared about. There have been racing games that included other objectives, such as collecting items on the road, or pulling off tricks, but those fit my gamer mindset better than this notion that another racer is impressed at how I drive. Other types of races available won't have this focus, but those that do seem to be the primary focus, as they have such high rewards.

https://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3363521617
There's a variety of vehicles you can unlock and choose between, with the handling on each feeling a bit different. When I tried out some of them, I felt as if I could wrap my mind around how to properly drive those cars. However, even in those cases, the controls felt a bit slippery when driving at faster speeds, as if the car couldn't get enough traction. This was an issue even when trying a more expensive vehicle during Free Mode, as the car's handling seemed worse than before.


Although SRS opens with a cutscene, I didn't get the impression that the story would be a prominent factor in the game. After all, your character isn't even shown on-screen, with a guy asking you to drive in a race for an easy payday while he's bailing somebody else out. Using those funds, you buy your own vehicle, and begin building your own reputation as a racer, presumably with the goal of earning more money, to buy fancier cars, so you can win more races. Plus, while engaging in other races later on, it didn't bring up further story threads.

https://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3363520705
For people who weren't gaming in this time period, I could understand how the visuals would be underwhelming. Even though you only have three main locations available, the environment and backgrounds aren't that impressive looking. The vehicles could also have more pizzazz as you're zooming around, although if you like driving from the perspective of being inside the vehicle, you can change up the perspective while driving. None of that was much of an issue to me, but I found the character models laughable, especially when a young woman would strut her stuff before starting each race. Did anybody ever think that looked good, because somebody clearly spent hours rendering and animating that walk cycle? Considering their use of still pictures and clips of real women to entice male gamers, all this time spent making lame models is humorous to me. At this point in time, it's more of an amusement than something that annoys me.


Music is a powerful factor in triggering people's nostalgia, especially when hearing songs during that sweet spot in one's youth. There's about the same number of songs in SRS as you'd find in a CD or two, so for those who played this title back in the day, they'd probably feel a strong connection to the game's soundtrack. Without that association though, my response was mixed, as I enjoyed a few of the songs, while others got on my nerves. Unless you adjust the volume and have the music playing louder than the sound effects though, the basic sounds of an engine will drown out the tunes. If you're fond of music from the early 2000's, you might be in for a treat, but it just wasn't my jam.

https://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3363521363
🌟 You can just cruise if you want, although you have to be wary of cops. I don't dislike the idea of casually driving around, without any objective or stress.
🌟 Even though there aren't that many areas to race, the selection of cars is decent.
🌟 It's very cheap, and has eye candy.


❌ You can switch back and forth between the different options in shops to figure out how much of an improvement one item is compared to the alternatives. However, it could be presented in a way that makes it much clearer what's improving, and by how much.
❌ Even if you get used to how one car handles, you'll eventually switch to something with more power, and will have to adapt to that one.
❌ Being able to race around three cities sounds alright, but it doesn't amount to very much. You're not covering a large area of any location.


🔍 The game won't let you spend more money than you need for the next set of races, so feel free to buy whatever you want from the shops. You also have to pay for repairs though.
🔍 One of the easier ways to accumulate points is to hold a drift for a decent length. If done properly, you'll get a multiplier that bumps your respect up by a large amount.


There's a few key reasons for why I dislike SRS. I find handling the cars to be more of an obstacle than I'd have expected, as it feels like I'm constantly having to adjust for slippery controls. Given enough time, perhaps I'd find a car that suits my preferences better, or I'd adapt to how the entire game feels to play, but I'm not interested enough for that. My apathy in doing so is largely effected by the need to earn respect from other drivers during the race, as somehow, beating them and coming in first isn't sufficient. Instead, I also have to overcome the controls enough to drift around corners, and accumulate points for what doesn't feel like all that impressive a trick, “You banked around that corner without crashing. That's worth some mad respect, which means you can compete in the next set of races.” Maybe this game aged better for those who grew up with it, but I'm more than happy to let this fade in the rear view mirror, so I wouldn't recommend it.

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This game feels like a time capsule.

When I started it up, it would go to a black screen, but I could still hear sound. After I installed the Widescreen mod, I could play properly.