Super Pilot

I came to Super Pilot the way most people do: desperate for something that moves like F-Zero and doesn't play like a Wipeout clone with a new coat of paint. What I found is a game that nails the thing that matters most - the actual feel of piloting a ship at speeds that make track geometry genuinely threatening. The boost system has real depth to it. There are three ways to push speed: energy pads placed on the track, a drift-release mechanic that rewards timing (you hold the drift until a fill meter completes, then let go for the burst), and a manual boost button that fills a red overheat meter at the top of screen. Slam it too hard or catch a wall wrong, and your ship explodes. That tension between going faster and going too fast is exactly what a game like this should be built around, and dopagames got it right. The track editor is the other major pillar and it earns its place. You can build loops, vertical climbs, upside-down pipe sections, and tight banked turns, then throw the track online for anyone to race with leaderboard times attached. The community pool of tracks is substantial for a game this small, and the AI is legitimately competent - it navigates user-created layouts using the same physics you do, which is rarer than it should be in this genre. Four-ship selection gives you a small but meaningful choice: tight-turning slow accelerator, quick-accelerating loose handler, and a balanced middle option. It is not deep ship customisation, but it fits the arcade mindset. Here is the part I can not talk around. Super Pilot has been sitting in Early Access since September 2018, and the last developer update on Steam was flagged at over 20 months ago at the time of writing. There is no online multiplayer - local split-screen up to four players is all you get for head-to-head. The production values are thin: flat textures, basic lighting, and a soundtrack that players have called functional at best (the game includes a custom music folder specifically so you can replace it). If you are coming from F-Zero GX expecting that kind of visual punch and character, the minimalist look will feel like a step down rather than a stylistic choice. For the F-Zero faithful who have run out of options on PC, the core racing holds up better than almost anything else in this lane. The handling is tight, the boost management has real skill depth, and the leaderboard time attack mode keeps solo sessions alive. Just know what you are buying: a mechanically solid Early Access game from a small studio that appears to have gone quiet, with no roadmap, no online ranked play, and a production wrapper that was always lean. If local couch racing or time attack grinding is your thing, the price point makes the leap reasonable. If you were hoping for a thriving online competitive scene, it was never here to begin with. Fred, Scout Team