Think of the vast majority of retro-styled indie games released over the last few decades. What were they meant to resemble? Most of them look like either 8-bit and 16-bit games, most notably NES and SNES titles. A smaller chunk is meant to resemble more modern, but equally nostalgic systems, like how Vaccine is meant to resemble a PS1 game and Corn Kidz 64 could (and should) have been ported to the Nintendo 64 without any issue. But have you ever thought about playing a game that’s meant to look, feel, and play like a SEGA SATURN game? No? Well, I’d still tell you to give Parking Garage Rally Circuit a go.

I can only assume that the game’s creator is one of the, like, six people who still owns a Saturn to this day. He’s just like me, for real.

Have you ever played a Sega Saturn? What made that console so (in)famous was how it handled 3D graphics. Its hardware was a mess, being really hard to program games for. Sega never thought that 3D gaming would take off during that generation; their bet was that games would be in 2D, but with polygonal features. As such, 3D games on the Saturn have a distinctive feel in terms of reduced field of vision, a very limited framerate, and low amounts of polygons per asset. It’s a bit different than how the PS1 handled polygons and 3D graphics, being a bit more limited in that sense. And Parking Garage Rally Circuit looks just like that… if you want to.

Parking Garage Rally Circuit features four visual modes, but all in all, they can be divided into two very distinct visual options. One of those is to limit the graphical fidelity and screen resolution to what a Sega Saturn was able to back in the day, complete with screen dithering effects, 20fps, a very limited field of view, an intentional crappy resolution, and a very specific color pallette. You may think it’s crap, but I can assure you I was blown away by how accurate to a Sega Saturn game it looked. The other option is to basically crank the resolution up to HD standards, 16:9 aspect ratio, and jack up the overall quality of polygons, textures, and framerate. In essence, a remastered version of this fictional Sega Saturn game.

The dust effects utilize the same dithering gimmick seen in most Saturn games.

Which visual preset is the best one? Well. technically-speaking, going full modern gives you the better visuals and gameplay, but Parking Garage Rally Circuit is the odd case in which I’d legitimately argue that going full crappy 1995 is the way to go. You want to play this game because it looks and plays like a Saturn game… so might as well stick to the most Saturn-looking experience possible. Even if the music doesn’t feel at all like something which would have been added to a Saturn CD game (I can’t think of a single Saturn game that featured ska in its soundtrack), the overall presentation is 100% legit. Kudos to the development team. Now, about the gameplay…

Parking Garage Rally Circuit couldn’t have been more upfront about what it offers in terms of gameplay. You are rallying… inside parking garages. You are rarely driving at more than 40 miles an hour, but you’ll be told to perform insane drifts and tight corners inside these parking lots. Physics be damned; this is all about drifting a few inches away from a wall in order to perform a boost afterwards. I am glad this game isn’t realistic at all. I just wish it wasn’t so absolutely brutal at times.

This is how Parking Garage Rally Circuit looks in “Saturn mode”…

This game is all about trial and error. The AI is really tough, and you will be punished if you don’t perform a lap at the most ideal of circumstances. You need to memorize track layouts, the best places to drift, where to boost, and so on. The game takes advantage of its instantaneous loading times to let you restart races in an instant, whenever you hit a wall or collumn. You’ll simple not going to be able to catch up, so might as well restart the race. You will spend most of your time on the game’s main career mode, but there is also an option for races against other players online. The catch is that, given the nature of these ultra-tight tracks, there is no contact between drivers. You are, essentially, competing against ghosts.

… and this is how it looks in “modern mode”. It’s a lot better, sure, but I prefer the janky charm of the Saturn preset.

I think that the best thing I can say about Parking Garage Rally Circuit is that I wish this was actually available on the Saturn, as it’s an absolutely phenomenal retro achievement. As cliché as it might sound, it is a perfect recreation of a Saturn game, from its visuals to its simple physics and scope. It plays well, even if it’s a bit too hard at times. It might lack some polish in some aspects, but it more than makes up for it in terms of charm.

Parking Garage Rally Circuit is available now on PC.

Reviewed on Intel i7-12700H, 16GB RAM, RTX 3060 6GB.