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Progressing through Distance's neon-lit cityscapes, you slowly start to realise there's always been a little Lovecraftian horror tugging under the futuristic racing genre. Who was it exactly that got rid of those guard rails on the outer edges of F-Zero GX's Fire Field: Undulation? Which twisted architect cut the torturous path up WipEout's Sebenco Climb? And where have all the humans gone? There's something pleasingly subversive about Distance, the work of the Seattle-based studio Refract who've previously explored the genre with Nitronic Rush. Fire it up and you're met with an attractive albeit fairly unremarkable racer, one that sets you across obstacle-littered courses designed to be tackled to the insistent rhythm of its euphoric soundtrack.
That's not to say there aren't details to be admired: your car's a joyfully squat thing, a piece of Daft Punk merchandise as manufactured by Dinky or Matchbox, the readout that lets you know how much boost is too much boost glowing pleasingly from the rear of the car. It's a knockabout world you're tearing through too, a mesh of slick surfaces and jagged saw blades that will slice chunks off your car before they magically regenerate.
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