JDM Japanese Drift Master Is The Game That's Gonna Make Me Love Cars

Cars are one of those things I just never got into. To me, cars are simply objects that take me to offices, drive-thrus and dates. They look cool, sure, but it's hard to appreciate a car's aesthetics when it's going so fast your eyes blur and your ears pop from the sound of it.

This indifference has largely extended to racing games as well- it's hard to appreciate realistic handling when I'm never driving my car that fast in real life. My sheer detachment from car culture is like expecting my normie friends to appreciate 3rd Strike. Just not gonna happen.

And yet, after picking up JDM Japanese Drift Master, that changed. It turns out, Getting people from indifferent to appreciative is fairly simple: just be excellent.

Title: JDM Japanese Drift Master
Developer: Gaming Factory
Publisher: 4Divinity
Platforms: PC

Falling In Love With Cars

JDM Japanese Drift Master is just unabashedly in love with its premise. It's not about street racing per se, it's about drifting. The name is a dead giveaway. Here, there's no rewards for placing first.

Instead, what you're treated to is the vehicular version of Devil May Cry. You're taking on different other racers in style battles, seeing how well you can control your vehicle as it drifts and slides across tracks. This isn't a little flourish- this is the game, Being able to do everything from handbrake turns to popping your clutch, you're expressing yourself mostly through your control, as you rack up multipliers and try to maintain as long a drift as possible.

The romance comes in when you see just how many ways you can apply such a similar concept. The game's most obvious one is the drift races- where even your ability to hold a 45-degree drift means squat if that jerk Takamura slams into you and spins you out. Suddenly, you're all about controlling the track itself- what can I do to make sure everyone sees this sick slide as flawlessly as possible?

Then, suddenly the game starts throwing curveballs at you. Can you drift while maintaining your sushi quality and delivering it on time? What about doing it at the request of a hot chick?

Even if you're not doing the game's missions, the maps are absolutely gorgeous to explore. Japan is the birthplace of drift culture, and this game seems to instill that same reverence in you as you go from countrysides to cities while being a menace to traffic.

All I Ever Wanted Was A Black Grand National

If the level structure of JDM Japanese Drift Master is the equivalent of seeing a beautiful woman at the bar, the customization is where you find out she plays fighting games. The ability to tune your car feels really good because you're only ever doing one thing in this game- drifting. Suddenly, changing your engine throws off one aspect of your drift, so suddenly you're spending the next 10 minutes adjusting your car like it was an Armored Core to make sure your drifting is both new and satisfying.

That's not even getting into getting new cars altogether. Trying to find a car that expresses your own feelings and handles the way you want to is going to be an effort. It's an enjoyable pursuit, sure- and amid all the tweaking you feel something that can almost be seen like love.

JDM Japanese Drift Master Verdict

It's very hard to not recommend JDM Japanese Drift Master. It's incredibly welcoming in its design- it has different handling options for Sim racers and Arcade racers, even letting you switch between automatic and manual transmission. If you want to get into racing games, this seems like an excellent entry point to teach you about all the things that drive people crazy about cars- what makes a turn feel good, how to make one go from junky to stylish.

The main challenge is the actual conversion process- unless you're already into drift racing or being guided by someone who is, you might find yourself against a wall as you figure out how exactly to hold a drift for so long it becomes the vehicular equivalent of a just-frame Judgement Cut.

But if you're trying to get into car games, JDM Japanese Drift Master is one of the best ways to do so. Give it a go and embrace the nights of fire.

• Presentation: 9/10
• Gameplay: 9/10
• Content: 9/10

Final Score: 9/10

Game reviewed on PC. Review code provided by publisher