By Slide if you wish to accelerate
- by Sammy Barker
If you matured on a robust mix of Initial D and MF Ghost, then there’s a significant chance you’ll be acquainted with JDM: Japanese Drift Master.
The title initially debuted on PC earlier this year and is a quintessential arcade street racer reminiscent of SEGA’s legendary Initial D cabinets and similar titles like Ridge Racer.
It has garnered quite favorable feedback on Steam, though some individuals have raised concerns regarding the physics, which may boil down to personal taste, we reckon.
Here’s how the publisher characterizes it:
“JDM: Japanese Drift Master fuses realistic, meticulously-adjusted physics in a simcade journey that’s as seamless with a controller as it is with sim racing hardware. Navigate hundreds of kilometers of open-world streets and reveal story-driven incidents and quests throughout. Sharpen your drifting abilities, perfect grip racing, undertake challenges, and experience the excitement of genuine Japanese street racing.”
As noted, there’s a vast open world to discover from the driver’s seat of a variety of licensed vehicles, featuring brands like Mazda and Nissan.
The downside is that while the game is set to launch on Xbox Series X|S next month, starting from the 21st of November, we must wait until early next year for the PS5 edition.
It’s plausible that developer Gaming Factory simply lacks the means to launch both versions simultaneously, although it’s disappointing to have to wait.
Hopefully, the game will have received several updates and enhancements by the time it ultimately arrives on PS5.
[source youtube.com]
As the Editor of Push Square, Sammy possesses over 15 years of experience analyzing the PlayStation landscape, from PS3 through PS5 and everything in between. He’s knowledgeable about PS Studios and industry affairs, as well as sports titles and simulators. He also enjoys RPGs when he has the opportunity to focus on them and is somewhat of a gacha whale.