Brakes are for Losers Review on Nintendo Switch

The core idea of Brakes are for Losers, as the title would suggest, is that you have no brakes on your miniature racing car.  Instead, you must rely on skill and, more commonly, luck to avoid crashing into the walls and your fellow racers.  Removing this one tool from your racing experience changes up things remarkably, and creates a chaotic game that is fun to play with friends and family.  Unfortunately, there isn’t much beyond this change to get you to come back.  There are a variety of modes, and a few options you can tweak to mix things up, but ultimately the core gameplay does not change much and it gets rather repetitive.

Chaos is the name of the game here, and more often than not the difference between winning and losing comes down to luck.  Power-ups on the track can play into this, but since anyone can pick them up it isn’t quite on the same level as Mario Kart and it’s penchant for ruining people’s races at the last moment.  No, instead the chaos tends to come from losing your car among all the others or making one mistake and slamming into the boards or an obstacle.  It ends up being just a bit unsatisfying as a result, although in local multiplayer (up to 8 people playing at once, though I only got to try with 3) it makes for a good party game and the randomness of it takes away a bit of the sting.

Developers Oudidon have a solid framework to build on with Brakes are for Losers, but they never reach their potential.  There is nothing truly bad about the game, but there is also nothing remarkable.  There’s a certain amount of nostalgia built into the top-down racing genre, but minus the lack of brakes there’s nothing here we haven’t seen before.  A little extra time spent being polished and tightening up the controls would go a long way.  Additionally, adding in a way to quickly distinguish between the cars in the game would help.

Brakes are for Losers Review Final Thoughts:

At the end of the day, Brakes are for Losers is a game that is executed well enough to be enjoyable, but lacks what it needs to be memorable.  The graphics get the job done, but nothing sets them apart from the pack.  They do suffer a bit in handheld mode due to how small the cars can get, and this is best played in docked mode on a decent sized television.  Still, at only $4.99 on the sShop you will get enough out of the game that you could justify a purchase, especially if you want to have a party game on hand.