How do games like this get released in 2016? Wurd Industries' SpaceRoads is a mess. From the Microsoft Office-style Word art "Wurd Industries" logo to the horrendously optimized introduction video, to the amateurish visuals and loose gameplay, everything about SpaceRoads recalls the worst of 1990s shareware. There is no reason to purchase SpaceRoads, unless for some reason you have an affinity for experiences that frustrate you without any payoff.
SpaceRoads plays like a racing game without an actual race; you control a spaceship with the simple task of reaching the end of the stage. As this game is called "SpaceRoads," you'll find yourself constantly falling off the tight paths and having to restart the stage. There are a few obstacles in your way, all of which will instantly kill you - there are little underpasses you can go into, but if you're so much as a pixel off the game will decide your ship crashed into a wall. Most of the game, then, will be played by pressing ZR and A to speed up and jump as far forward as possible so as to avoid the poorly designed levels.
The visuals are dull, as is the spaceship, all set against a generic space backdrop. To Wurd Industries' credit, SpaceRoads seems to run at a solid framerate (besides the opening video, which is just plain bad). The music is equally generic; SpaceRoads would have fared better with no music and more sound effects - the soundtrack doesn't seem to match the space atmosphere. Some levels have weird touches to them, like rain, which don't appear to change the way the game plays.
There's a tutorial, but you'd be forgiven for not realizing. The tutorial is actually played like a regular level, and as you progress text that is embedded into the stage design tells you what to do. The problem here is that most players won't reach the end, because the tutorial is just as cheap as the rest of the game. The GamePad is used to select stages, but when you select one a mouse-over icon appears, suggesting that this is just a quick rip from a PC game. It should also be noted that we experienced freezes more than once while playing and had to hard-reset the Wii U.
Conclusion
There's very little reason to purchase SpaceRoads. There are plenty of better games on the eShop, with cheap and poor design at the forefront here; the repetitive freezing bug is also unacceptable. Wurd Industries has an interesting idea here - there's definitely room for quick-fix games like this - but it's simply not ready for primetime.
Comments 13
It is from a PC game. A very hard one at that. I remember playing it many many years ago.
Yeah, this game seems to be taking Heavy "inspiration" from an old PC game. One that was bundled with old A-drive floppy disks. Named Sky roads or something? The name escapes me right now but I've seen the game sorta recently (they played a Christmas edition of the game on Steam Train last Christmas).
@ChessboardMan Yeah, it was called Sky Roads. I rather enjoyed it as a kid, but it is insanely difficult.
Sky Roads was an amazing game, one of my favorites on DOS. Would I pay $10 for the same game with 'better' graphics? probably not. If a sale comes up though I won't be able to resist. Makes me smile that so many complain of it's difficulty. Yeah it's hard, but when you get a good run after learning the maps it feels great!
Yikes. This game didn't even make it off the runway.
Hey, I <3 playing "SkyRoads" many, many years ago, loved that game. I had some hopes for this one... but sadly I must give it a pass.
Where we're going...
**puts on glasses**
we don't need SpaceRoads.
This reminds me of a '97 computer browser game I play every time mom takes me to her work space with nothing to do when I was like 8. The name escapes me.
It's probably better to leave this road untraveled, even if it's in space.
@ArcadeLove Consider this a warning. Do not use profanity, partially censored or otherwise, when posting on this site.
For a great racer get Fast Racing Neo instead!
So, the negative things in this review sound like it will be a very authentic SkyRoads experience. I wonder if reviewers back in the day were dissing SkyRoads because it's super difficult. For me, it's a timeless classic.
Well, I guess this might have worse level design than the original game and game freezing bugs are always bad, of course, so in the end it might actually really be a 2/10 game. But everything else in this review just makes me want to buy the game.
It could be that, like with Witch & Hero which got a bombing review like this, the reasons for the low review might actually be exactly the reasons why I will love the game.
If this is so bad, you can download the original SkyRoads and the Christmas Special as freeware these days. They are insanely tough but hold up well enough.
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