Speed or Death has a good idea, just really bad execution. The idea is that you are driving through disaster zones to make it through. The idea is hardly new, going as far back as the atrocious MegaRace 3. But it is presented here well. You even get a snazzy menu screen:
In Speed or Death, you have four, yes only four races to choose from. One where a giant monster attacks a city, another where sandworms attack a military base, a third where aliens attack a racetrack, and finally a volcano goes off in the county. For a budget indie title, I have to give the developers credit where it is due. They tried, and tried hard. Each level is fairly long and the effects can be quite good for what they are. The announcer is pretty good. Just that things are rough, very rough. Bugs and glitches abound in Speed or Death driving is horrendous and there are blatant racist caricatures:
In Speed or Death, race cars appear and disappear at random. A boulder drives around. Different surfaces all drive the same. For some reason I won’t accelerate despite putting my foot on the gas. My car will randomly get stuck and I’ll have to respawn via the R stick. Even worse, driving feels floaty in the base car. Pressing the handbrake will either allow a nice drift, or send you into a wall. Despite playing a race over and over, I never seem to get better. Half the reason is finding your way is a lot of times trial and error, especially in the desert and racetrack. Other times I failed because of randomness. In the Aliens one, I was making good time, then for some reason, the AI piled up with me in the middle. I assume this was intentional, but still really not fun when you’re stuck and have to respawn.
The best part of Speed or Death is by far the presentation, too bad the actual game is very rough and could have used some more time fine-tuning and bug hunting. Despite things exploding and creatures running around, I just didn’t have fun with it, and I honestly doubt most people will either in its current state. Plus, with only four races, things will get old fast. This will get a unfortunate Not Recommended. I wanted to like this, but I just couldn’t.
Overall: Speed or Death has great presentation, too bad the actual game is half-baked.
Verdict: Not Recommended
| Platform | Nintendo Switch |
| Release Date | 11/30/23 |
| Cost | $7.99 |
| Publisher | Delores Ent. |
| ESRB Rating | E10+ |
P.S. For a Must Play racer, try One Hell of a Ride.
