Digital Reality’s ‘SkyDrift’ slowly snook its way onto the Xbox Live Marketplace this week, without any visible promotion from Microsoft, I’m sure it would’ve slipped under many of your radars. I so, so wish it hadn’t.
SkyDrift is a plane racing game at its heart, but with a few twists and turns, it takes you to the skys in an epic aviary thrill ride. Even as an arcade game at a justified 1200MSP, SkyDrift rivals that of modern kart racing games, imagine it as the genius convergence of Mario Kart, Blur, and Hydro Thunder. Elements of each are so brilliantly combined together to form a near perfect action-packed, hilariously fun and beautifully crisp aerial combat arcade racer.
Singleplayer and multiplayer are both featured in the game, and both are expansively packed full of content. Especially the singleplayer. The campaign is a collection of eight stages, and six stages within each, and with each race lasting around five minutes, completing all the events may currently sound easier than you should think. SkyDrift boasts some very, sometimes unfairly smart AI, even on the easiest difficulty level. They’ll give you one helluva challenge, more than enough to cause multiple rage quits on the way.
This rage emits from any, and all players, and you’ll even find yourself becoming surprisingly competitive. Usually, I’m one of the least competitive players, playing nice and casually, just for fun. But SkyDrift somehow brought out the beast within. I found myself furiously replaying each race until I’d finished first in each on, often getting headaches induced by my burning desire to win. SkyDrift… changed me. This competitive edge sets it apart from often casual ‘kart’ racers, and makes for some really fun, highly competitive gameplay.
SkyDrift isn’t just about the race; as you soar around each course, you’ll find various powerups, and this is really where elements from Blur are drawn in to the game. At each point, you’re faced with a fairly broad selection, from shields, to chainguns, to EMP’s, the diverse selection add for some interesting gameplay. You’ll find your personal favourite, but you’ll switch it up a few times too, playing tactically, offensively, or even defensively, thinking on your feet is a must, mixing it up and gearing your tactics towards your opponents play-style is the key to success.
Complimenting the gameplay, as you swerve, duck and dive around each stage, you won’t be able to help yourself taking in some of the jaw dropping vistas. Because SkyDrift, is visually stunning. Such thought has been put into every little detail, I’m sure that if you looked close enough, you’d even be able to see even the tiniest breaks in the rock. You’ll barely ever get close enough to experience the sheer detail, but just knowing that Digital Reality took the time and effort to make everything so crystal clear, is seriously inspiring.
There’s six courses in total, as well as their reversed counter-parts, and each one boasts a new and unique environment. Volcanoes, gorgeous open lakes, ice caverns and more. It’s not even possible to reuse any of the models / textures etc. so each one has been created from the ground up, and Digital Reality’s passion just shines through. It’s not just the look of the courses either, the devs have carefully constructed each one to create maps that are challenging, deadly, yet enjoyable all at the same time. Trying to find the shortest route results in having to swiftly navigate tiny caverns: pull it off, and you’ll gain the advantage over others, crash, and you’ll fall far, far behind.
One of the main decisions you’ll be making, is choosing which plane to pilot, and Digital Reality helps make that all the more difficult. With around ten planes to choose from, you should really decide on which to use based on your opponents, but more often than not, you’ll probably be making a decision on your favourite paint job. Each plane has varying stats, as well as four paint jobs which you need to unlock. These offer a little more replay value to the game, wanting to go back and earn all of the paint jobs will certainly keep you occupied, and unlocking the planes themselves is one mean feat. You’ll need to complete many events to get them all. 
Playing with your friends, or even against the AI makes SkyDrift a surprisingly challenging, and great fun game to simply pick up an play. You can dive right into a game an just enjoy yourself; thoroughly. For the modest price of 1200MSP, SkyDrift is well worth you buying if you enjoy a good, exhilarating racing game with a twist, or just a game you can simply pick up and play. It’s such a shame that Digital Reality’s masterpiece has slipped through the cracks of the marketplace, it deserves so much better.
Leave a comment below on what you seem to like about SkyDrift, and follow Digital Reality on Twitter for a chance to win the game!
