Sunrise GP

My first instinct when I loaded Sunrise GP was to grab three controllers and call some friends, and honestly that instinct is the correct way to play this game. Garage 5 have built something that sits squarely in the N64-era arcade-racer tradition: cell-shaded visuals, European-classic-inspired car roster, synthwave pumping through the speakers, and a vibe so deliberately relaxed it practically hands you a cold drink when you boot it up. The PC version arrived in August 2024, building on a console release that already had a small but vocal fanbase who appreciated exactly that kind of no-frills, pick-up-and-play energy. The content package is modest but coherent. Twenty tracks and 21 cars are spread across a Grand Prix mode that works as a loose campaign, a Challenge mode with 20 discrete objectives to grind for in-game currency, and a Quick Race setup that lets you dial in Time Attack or Last Man Standing rules with up to nine AI opponents. That Last Man mode, where the rear-most driver gets eliminated each lap, is the one that turns a quiet Friday into an argument with your housemates, which is a compliment. Car customization leans into the bosozoku aesthetic: bumpers, exhausts, spoilers, side skirts, vinyls, and colour changes are all on the table once you earn enough credits, and the resulting garish builds look great against the pastel cell-shaded backdrops. Photo Mode is also in there if you want to capture your chrome monstrosity at Sunny Beach or the Spaceport. The rough edges are real and worth naming. AI opponents are the game's biggest liability: they play bumper cars off the start line, occasionally park themselves against a barrier and stay there, and never apply serious pressure once you build a lead. Rubber banding is absent, which purists will appreciate, but it also means a clean first lap usually results in a lonely victory. Reviewers across multiple platforms flagged that the racing itself lacks mechanical depth: no drifting system, no drafting, no power-ups, and control remapping is absent on some versions. The track layouts lean straightforward, with ice patches and hilly bends providing the occasional tactical wrinkle but no alternate routes or shortcuts to discover. If you arrive expecting the chaos of a kart racer or the weight of a sim, you will be underwhelmed on both counts. The visuals and audio deserve genuine praise. The cell-shaded look uses soft pastel lighting in a way that feels both retro and fresh at the same time, and the synthwave-adjacent soundtrack matches the mood even if the in-race tracks could stand to be a touch more energetic. For a PC session at low-to-mid specs this is a completely painless experience aesthetically. The four-player local splitscreen is the headline feature that makes or breaks the value case here: if you have the couch setup, the controllers, and the warm bodies, Sunrise GP delivers a solid two-hour couch session without requiring anyone to read a manual. Solo, the run through Grand Prix to completion is short, and once the novelty of the customization shop wears off, there is limited reason to return unless you are chasing leaderboard times.

Riley · Scout Team

Sports & racing

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