Horizon Chase Turbo - Summer Vibes (DLC)

I pulled up Horizon Chase Turbo for what I figured would be a quick twenty-minute session before dinner. Three hours later I was still hunting fuel canisters on a rain-slicked track somewhere in South America and yelling at my TV. That 'one more race' pull is absolutely real, and it's the first thing you should know going in. So what are you actually getting? Picture the SNES Top Gear trilogy rebuilt with modern lighting and a locked 60 fps, then loaded with an absurd amount of content: 12 cups, 48 cities, 109 tracks, and 31 unlockable cars to collect across the World Tour campaign. The scoring isn't just about finishing position. Each race asks you to collect blue tokens scattered across the course, manage a fuel gauge by snagging petrol canisters in traffic, and place high enough to bank permanent upgrades. Speed, acceleration, handling, nitro and fuel capacity upgrades apply to every car simultaneously, which keeps progression feeling meaningful without locking your favourite ride behind a separate grind. The AI pack of 19 opponents is genuinely pushy. They block, they drift wide into your line, and hitting one rear-end scrubs your speed in a way that will briefly make you want to flip a table. That collision model is polarising, borrowed straight from the 90s originals, but it's also what keeps you from coasting. Tournament mode layers in point-based championship pressure across three difficulty tiers, and Endurance mode keeps throwing races at you until you fail to finish fifth or better. Playground mode rotates weekly challenges if you want something fresh after clearing the campaign. The big win for any couch gathering is the split-screen. Every single game mode supports up to four players locally, competitive or co-op, and the PC version reportedly holds its framerate clean where other ports wobble. Two players can share one keyboard if you're desperate, but trust me: four gamepads is the correct setup. This is legitimately one of the best 'four drunk friends on a Saturday night' racing games made in the modern era. Tracks run two to three minutes each, rounds feel snappy, and nobody is going to need a tutorial. The controls are acceleration, brake, steer, and a nitro boost that the community broadly agrees feels cosmetic more than decisive. Pick it up, point it at the screen, job done. The honest criticisms are worth flagging. There is no online multiplayer, full stop. If your mates are remote, you're playing solo or not at all. The campaign's sheer length starts to blur after a while because the core loop is deliberately narrow, so binge sessions can tip into monotony around the three-hour mark. And the auto-steer assist means corners feel like co-piloting rather than driving, which will put off anyone coming from a sim background. The soundtrack, composed by Barry Leitch who did the original Top Gear and Lotus Turbo Challenge, is genuinely excellent and holds up throughout. For casual racing fans, couch multiplayer hunters, or anyone who had a SNES in the house, this is the obvious pick. Sim racers and online-only players can look elsewhere.

Riley · Scout Team

Sports & racing

Be the first to comment on Horizon Chase Turbo - Summer Vibes (DLC).