Japanese Drift Master - Rise of the Scorpion (demo) review: worth a free... spin

Rise of the what-now?

The racing game landscape of 2024 is dominated by behemoth franchises that have been around longer than trees, so it’s always encouraging to see plucky indie underdogs like Japanese Drift Master getting some buzz. Slated for a full release later this year, it’s just dropped a free demo, so obviously we had to get behind the wheel.

So how does it drive?

You know those drift events in Need For Speed? The ones where the car's physics are tuned so that even breathing on the throttle pedal sends the rear wheels spinning and the roads are suddenly made of teflon-coated margarine? Yeah. Like that.

In a good way, you understand. The first few minutes in our unlicensed-vehicle--but-definitely-a-370Z were spent finding that sweet spot, the Venn diagram overlap between speed, steering angle and rear traction that creates drifts you can hold through a corner and then snap out of.

It takes a bit of practice, and developers Gaming Factory know it. That’s why a substantial part of this Rise of the Scorpion prologue is devoted to tutorial-based challenges that get you holding drifts for as long as possible, and transitioning between drifting from one direction to the other to bring home that sweet, sweet points tally.

Is it more of an arcade game than a sim, then?

Exactly. We’re not talking about iRacing levels of straight-faced fastidiousness here. Car behaviour feels convincing, but it’s cut from the same cloth as classic Need For Speed, Burnout and The Crew titles. Third-person camera, hard on the inputs, no huge dramas when you send your not-370Z into a wall.

However, it does have something none of those old genre stalwarts have...

Anime comic panels?

You’ve been cheating and looking at the Steam page, haven’t you? But yes. JDM’s trying to immerse you in a story while it teaches you the art of drifting. And it does so by interspersing the open-world driving with graphic novel panels which build a bit of a narrative around your rebellious teenage protagonist, the improbably proportioned love interest, the mentor who dispenses all your drift tutorials, etc.

The monochromatic presentation is a bit function over finesse at present, but we’ll reserve judgement on JDM’s true narrative chops until the final release.

What else does it do differently?

Besides taking place in an open world of Tokyo roads that are improbably well-suited to drifting around and the aforementioned anime, JDM also gives you a smartphone. It works a bit like Grand Theft Auto V - you can interact with NPCs on it and arrange hangouts, essentially just another way of initiating side missions rather than driving between map markers.

How’s the car collection looking?

That all depends on whether you’re comfortable with debadged, unlicensed depictions of very recognisable drift motors. Mazda has signed a deal to lend its vehicles’ likenesses to the game and there are a couple of Subarus here too, but at present most of the roster is unofficial.

That said, we’re happy enough to chew the rear tyres from off-brand Nissan Sylvias and boxy old Toyota Corollas, whether or not the official licences appear or not.

Can you customise your vehicles?

Absolutely. Just down the road from the car showroom is a parts garage that specialises in widebody kits and warps that’d detach the retinas of an unsuspecting passer-by.

We’ve been spoiled lately by incredibly in-depth customisation systems in Gran Turismo 7 and Forza Horizon 5, and let’s be clear - JDM isn’t that. This is an indie game we’re talking about here. There’s enough visual customisation to let you feel that you’ve made your car yours, though.

Why should I play it?

Because it’s free. Because an indie developer’s taking on the might of much bigger series, and it’s doing so with some intriguing spins - sorry for the excellent pun - on the usual formula. If you’re a fan of going sideways, this prologue is a great way to master the handling model early doors. And multiplayer is planned after the full game releases, so you might just be getting a competitive edge on the community by logging the hours with this demo.