New Star™ GP

I picked up New Star GP expecting a lightweight nostalgia trip and ended up losing a full evening to its career mode before I even touched the couch multiplayer. That is a good sign. The game sits in a sweet spot between the chunky-polygon aesthetic of early Sega arcade racers and the kind of light team-management loop that makes you think "just one more season" at 1am. It does not have an F1 licence, but the fictional drivers, tracks clearly inspired by Silverstone, Suzuka, the Red Bull Ring, and others, and the decade-spanning structure from the 1980s through to the 2020s all give it enough authenticity to scratch that itch without the usual Codemasters price tag attached. On the track, the handling is arcade-first: automatic transmission only (no manual option, which some purists will hate), a nitro/DRS burst that refreshes each lap, and a rewind mechanic for when you bin it into a barrier. Do not mistake that accessibility for shallowness, though. Tyre choice across Soft, Hard, and Wet compounds, fuel load, pit stop timing, and weather conditions all feed into race outcomes in ways you genuinely feel. The pit stop itself is a little interactive mini-game, and nailing it while your rival fumbles theirs is one of those small moments that keeps the fun meter topped up. AI rivals develop personalities and rivalries over the career, which adds a light narrative texture to what might otherwise feel like a stat progression loop. The career mode earns its reputation. You build your team from the ground up, spend in-game currency on car upgrades and staff perks, navigate between-race interview decisions that keep your Chief Engineer or Commercial Manager happy, and unlock new eras with fresh car models to develop from scratch. Community feedback has called out the AI difficulty curve as slightly inconsistent, and players who max out upgrades quickly may find the challenge drops off before a season ends. Those are fair gripes. The upgrade cap per component and the lack of a harder difficulty tier beyond Pro are the game's main rough edges. Post-launch updates have added staff personalities that affect perk performance and extended race distance options, so the developer is actively addressing feedback. Now, the reason this is in my personal highlights for couch gaming: four-player local split-screen in championship mode works brilliantly. You pick cars, set handicaps, choose any track, and points carry across races so a full evening becomes a mini-season. The game is accessible enough that a friend who last played a racing game in 1998 can get competitive within two races, and frantic enough that a close final lap still gets people shouting. No online multiplayer is a genuine miss for solo players with remote friends, but as a same-room experience it earns its place next to the usual party game suspects. Wheel support exists (Logitech G29 was added post-launch), but a standard gamepad is completely comfortable and arguably the right call for the arcade feel.

Riley · Scout Team

Sports & racing

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