As much as we like to rib our smaller publishing teams, I think it’s really impressive the trajectory that Ratalaika Games has taken over the last few years. After capturing a retro title series like Cyber Citizen Shockman, it was natural that they’d want to expand outwards and find even more undiscovered gems that hadn’t gotten enough Western coverage. So for a massive title like Super Mario Kart to come to the Nintendo Switch (Nintendo’s own console!) under Ratalaika’s banner, you have to stop and admire the sheer gumption and tenacity to net such a win. After all, this is the game that spawned a multi-million dollar franchise, and the newest installment, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, has been in the Switch’s top selling library since launch. Yes, it’s truly…hm? What’s that? This is something totally different called Rider’s Spirits? How could I have made such a mistake?

We’re absolutely going to return to this visible confusion in just a moment, but first, let’s take a look at the game itself. An SNES relic from 1994, Rider’s Spirits is a bike racing game that consists of eight characters, each of which has different pros and cons to their handling/acceleration/top speed. You have the choice of doing a GP tour, some time trials or an “endurance race.” The last is clearly one of the more interesting game modes, as the concept of needing to keep doing laps and timing when you should refuel is rather novel for the time period, and is well executed. Players can gauge their own consumption and hazard a guess when is the right moment to pull into the pit stop, and that’s a NASCAR level strategy all unto itself. All the modes have the option of one or two players, so feel free to grab a friend and jump into the silliness in its most natural form.

Now, if you’ve ever played Super Mario Kart, you absolutely have a good idea of what to expect. Every rider has a certain amount of drift and handling when it comes to corners. You have gas, brake and a limited number of speed boosts that you can activate at any point during the race. Beyond traditional racing elements, there are things to look out for on the courses themselves. Hazards in the form of different terrain (dirt, oil, ice) can affect your handling, the CPU has their own approaches to each match, and there are items you can pick up and use on others. However, due to items being purposely off the course (they reside in the pit stop), I almost never got to use them. Yes, I certainly got items USED on me, but I was mostly the target, not the attacker.

Rider’s Spirits has plenty of unique specialities that make it stand apart from other racers of the era. For one, the constant rear view mirror on the top of the screen allows you to anticipate and react to the CPU in a way that you didn’t really see much of in this time and place. In lieu of actual drift buttons, players do have to work out a combination of gas and brake in order to take very tight corners, and it does require at least a bit of skill to perfect these approaches. And the aforementioned items may not be Blue Shell level, but they certainly can hold sway over how you succeed. One item used against me took away my entire forward vision, erasing the track and the surroundings and replacing them with pure black for a period of time.

However, the novelty is only as far as you can enjoy the very cartoonish nature of the game, and that aspect goes a short to medium distance. For one, the characters are just chibi sprites that are only for this game world: no mascots from other Masaya titles appear therein. So choosing to be Pickles or Scott doesn’t really do a lot for me. Additionally, the music is a very poppy set of chiptune that you would have expected from a run-of-the-mill SNES title of the era. It’s not bad, but you could play a couple of tracks and I would be unable to tell you which of the “grandparents bought this for me from KMart” games it was. Plus, again, the first track feels so Super Mario Kart in visuals that I’m stunned no one got sued.

Moreover, the handling is very retro, and not necessarily in a good way. We give a pass to nostalgic titles because they’re connected to our childhoods, but I hadn’t heard of this game until I started reviewing it. In that aspect, having to figure out the timing for quicker starts, fast gas/brake pumping and threading between minor obstacles isn’t tickling any fond memories for me. Also, since it’s a much older game, collision physics isn’t worked out well, so clipping anything is the same as running face first into it, and you’ll often find yourself grinding to a halt. Given how much the CPU is on your backside for most of the game, this minor slipup can plummet you in placement.

But I do think I’m being a bit harsh on Rider’s Spirits because I don’t inherently think it’s a bad game. It’s quaint and quirky, and it has some decent course work after the initial track. You have to really work in order to unlock different courses, as you have to essentially be perfect in the GP to make the next level up available. The more difficult courses are interesting, though they’re essentially remixes of the first levels you see (more hazards added, some changes in the road direction, etc). It’s got some spunk and a bit of heart, and it was a decent comparison piece to play with other SNES racers of the time (though it’s still no Rock n’ Roll Racing). It’s legitimately fun with other people, and this Switch version allows for four players comfortably.

If you see the screenshots and expect something on the Super Mario Kart level, you’ll be sorely disappointed. If you want a decent 16 bit race title that’s a bit unfair in solo mode, then we’ve got the game for you. Rider’s Spirits is a fun couple of hours with friends or a decent thirty minutes by yourself, and that’s more than enough incentive for retro enthusiasts to take a peek. And honestly, for about five bucks, you’ll get your money’s worth by the time the last checkered flag gets waved.

Graphics: 6.0 Decent sprite work for the characters and their portraits, but very repetitive track design through the same basic terrains recycled for each new difficulty level. While path and hazard are easy to disscern, there’s nothing visibly exciting. Item powerups are surprisingly hard to see.	Gameplay: 5.0 You drive. A lot. There’s boosts for limited advantage and items to attack, but nothing that’s gamebreaking as long as you keep your foot on the gas and can pump at the right time to make a turn. On the same difficulty as RC Pro-AM but with less versatility.
Sound: 4.0 By no means bad, the sound is very generic and clearly trying to emulate the music of the game it’s already heavily influenced by. Poppy without being exciting, the tracks fade into my memory like smoke disappearing over the horizon.	Fun Factor: 5.0 While nothing particularly memoriable comes from Rider’s Spirits, there’s some good, retro fun to be hand, especially with the four player support being more easily done on the Nintendo Switch. It’s worth a few bucks and a bit of your time.
Final Verdict: 5

Rider’s Spirits is available now on Nintendo Switch, XBox Series One X/S and Playstation 4/5.

Reviewed on Nintendo Switch.

A copy of Rider’s Spirits was provided by the publisher.