Review of Retronika: Seamless Ride Experience

Retronika is a game that leaves you feeling a bit exasperated. At this point in its early access journey, it’s clear it needs significant adjustments in balance and tuning before it earns a full recommendation.

When I first caught a glimpse of Retronika’s trailer, the excitement was palpable—a feeling that lingered when I finally got my hands on it months later. It’s billed as a VR single-player racing adventure where you pilot a futuristic hoverbike through the hustle and bustle of a cityscape. Imagine weaving in and out of flying cars, dodging obstacles, and blasting away with laser guns as you try to make your way home from Earth, caught far from home after a wormhole catapults you into our chaotic future.

There’s no doubt it’s an ambitious premise, and 4Players-Studio from the Netherlands clearly wants players to ease into this thrilling universe. They’ve designed the controls to replicate the feel of motorbike riding, but there’s the added twist of it being airborne. You hold your arms out, grab the virtual handlebars, and use the analog sticks to either zoom ahead or hit the brakes.

The initial controls restrict you to a horizontal plane, but soon enough, you’re given full vertical freedom. It’s a bit tricky to master—getting used to pulling up and pushing down to move vertically—but the game wisely introduces this gradually. Only once you’re familiar with steering does it hand you the guns.

Your weapons automatically attach to the hand not busy with steering, and you pull the trigger to fend off persistent drones that block your path. The levels generally involve racing through a course, dodging other airborne vehicles, and either seeing off drone threats or racing against time to meet a finish line.

First impressions of Retronika are definitely impressive. VR should immerse you and, visually, this game doesn’t disappoint. The cel-shaded cityscape feels alive, bustling with activity beyond your immediate focus: cars zip along with you, trains dash by, skyscrapers rise above, and speedy delivery craft buzz around. In the early stages, you can glide through courses, absorbing the world’s details and daydreaming about the unseen lives of the city’s inhabitants.

However, it doesn’t take long before this wonder turns into irritation. In each mission, your health bar drains if you hit other cars or suffer damage from drones. Even something as minor as a stray bullet costs you health. Step outside the tight 3×3 grid, and your health plummets swiftly until you maneuver back into the course. These harsh penalties mean saving yourself often comes at the cost of half your health.

Retronika is severely unbalanced. While the busy environment brings the city alive, your race line is clogged with flying cars that bunch up like rush hour traffic. The grid is filled with up to nine vehicles, and you’re often left navigating through an almost impossible gap. It doesn’t help that the cars move erratically, sometimes blindsiding you with sudden swerves that chip away at your health or push you out of bounds.

The enemy drones are another headache. They sneak up behind, firing upon you before they even appear on screen. Their aim is uncannily precise, and your own shots feel lackluster in comparison. The only way to effectively retaliate involves stopping completely, abandoning steering to fire with both guns—a move that leaves you vulnerable to any danger around you.

Once multiple drones appear, maintaining your health becomes a gamble. Facing the tougher white drones feels less like a test of skill and more of a coin toss. Despite this, losing due to these challenges feels particularly grating because levels are lengthy. It’s disheartening to retry the same stretches repeatedly.

Upgrades, theoretically, could help alleviate these frustrations. Completing levels nets you currency, which you can use to soup up your bike or arsenal. New parts offer different advantages—better braking, faster speed, improved acceleration. Unfortunately, these modifications don’t seem to notably improve performance unless you stack multiple upgrades at once. Plus, desired improvements like better health or defense are conspicuously absent. There is a shield weapon available, but it’s a late-game unlock.

Moreover, affording these upgrades is a grind. Progression through the game doesn’t yield enough currency, pushing you into monotonous replay sessions just to earn enough for a single improvement. It dampens the initial enthusiasm that Retronika inspired, turning excitement into chore.

Retronika isn’t beyond saving, however. The game has solid foundations—responsive controls, striking visuals, and enough missions and weapons to promise variety. But to reach its potential, the game desperately needs better balance. Addressing vehicle behavior, drone accuracy, and both health and defense systems could make a world of difference. As it stands, Retronika veers from entertaining to intensely frustrating well before you complete the first 10 missions.

The developers mention that Retronika is nearing the end of its early access phase, hinting that not many adjustments may come before the full release. I sincerely hope this isn’t the case. A remarkable game is hidden within these issues and doesn’t require a fundamental overhaul to shine, just some serious balancing work.

Right now, for a game that promised the whimsical experience of gliding through a city on a hoverbike, it falls short. And that’s really disappointing.