--- title: "If You Like Daytona USA and Ridge Racer, This Indie Game Looks Like a Blast" date: "2025-06-12" modified: "2025-06-12" authors: - name: "Adam Ismail" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/adam-ismail" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/if-you-like-daytona-usa-and-ridge-racer-this-indie-game-looks-like-a-blast" categories: - "Culture" - "News" - "Video Games" --- # If You Like Daytona USA and Ridge Racer, This Indie Game Looks Like a Blast ![Linear S game screenshot]() *\Advent Softworks via Steam\* I was browsing my social feeds a couple of weeks ago when I came across an upcoming indie racing game called *Linear S*, and I immediately fell in love with it. In development by a two-person team called Advent Softworks, Linear S is a '90s-style arcade racer, specifically one that looks to be inspired by *Sega Touring Car Championship*. But unlike most indie racers, it's not going for a generic, neon-colored aesthetic that vaguely suggests the era it's trying to capture. *Linear S* looks exactly the way '90s racing games did, because it was built the way they were. Its [Steam page]() has just gone live with a "coming soon" release date, and I can't wait to play the final product. If you're familiar with those golden-era Sega and Namco arcade racers, *Linear S* should get your attention. It has Japanese performance cars rendered with *just* enough polygons and texturing to be recognizable, courses spearing through brightly lit tunnels to obscure a very limited draw distance, and stylized menus that would've been right at home on your Sega Saturn or PlayStation 1. There are four cars (an R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R, Lancer Evolution III, FD Mazda RX-7, and EG Honda Civic) and three tracks (Beginner, Advanced, and Expert). That's all you would've gotten 30 years ago, so that's all you'll get here. *Linear S* also has a unique control scheme, probably the main thing that separates it from the games that inspired it. The cars here don't have typical automatic and manual transmission options—they all use an unconventional three-speed system that maps perfectly to the top three face buttons on a Saturn controller. The idea is that the usual AT/MT choice presents a barrier for less experienced players, as one of the game's developers said [in this interview on the Shiro! blog](). > LINEAR S features a hybrid 3-gear system: > •1st gear for control and grip > •2nd gear for smooth drifting > •3rd gear for maximum speed! [pic.twitter.com/eBkiFSFY25]() > — Advent Softworks (@AdventSoftworks) [June 4, 2025]() Anyone who's ever played *Daytona USA* will tell you that while the game might be very unrealistic, just like driving a real car, you have to master shifting yourself to be truly fast. *Linear S* bridges this divide with three manual gears that not only affect power delivery, but handling, too. First gear offers grip and acceleration, second lets you drift, and third allows you to reach max speed at the cost of understeer. Coupled with the very varied driving characteristics of its four-car roster, *Linear S* does sound more like a fighting game than your run-of-the-mill retro racer. Still, it's the art direction that keeps me coming back. To build a game that truly looks like it belongs on a Sega Saturn, Advent assembled shaders and tools, and set limits to create a framework within the Unity game engine called Project S, designed to match the capabilities of Sega's 1994 console as closely as possible. In spirit, it's much the same way the developer of *Parking Garage Rally Circuit* told me he'd built his game [when I spoke to him last year](), but Project S seems even more stringent. *Linear S* has a resolution of 320x224, targets 30 frames per second (though 60 will be an option), draws no more than 2,000 quads per second, uses mesh transparencies, and separates its 3D and 2D layers, just like the Saturn did. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The attention to detail extends to the handling. Developer Daniel Sato put it well in that interview I linked to above: "What makes it fun to go from *Side by Side* to *Daytona USA* is that no matter how good you are at one, you’ll have to relearn everything in the other." These old racing games all felt different because the raw fundamentals they were built on, like their physics systems, were built from scratch every time. A pair of games could offer two completely unique interpretations of vehicle dynamics, run through the filter of rudimentary tech. To see what I mean, play the arcade port of *Ridge Racer* [that just came out]() last week, and then try the PlayStation port. They may look similar, and they might both prioritize drifting, but the way the player initiates and carries those powerslides is totally different. I've embedded a video of gameplay of the Saturn version of *Sega Touring Car Championship* below. Watch it for a second and tell me *Linear S* doesn't look like an authentic tribute. (*STCC* is a very striking game, but unfortunately not a great one to actually play, so hopefully Advent improves in that regard.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k9Tj8n1sZQ It's easy to look back at games from decades ago and discount them as twee, but in reality, plenty of developers were simply trying to make the most realistic experience they could at the time, with the tools available to them. *Linear S* comes off like a game reaching to replicate the sensations of motorsport, using technology that we know today is woefully ill-equipped to fully do the job. That's why I added it to my [Steam]() wishlist immediately. *Got tips? Send ’em to tips@thedrive.com*[]()[]() ## Author Adam is a Senior Editor at The Drive, concentrating on curating and developing the site's slate of daily journalism, from initial pitch to final copy edit. When he's not at his desk researching leads and working with writers, he's testing vehicles or reviewing racing games, new and old. He joined The Drive in 2023, following seven years of covering consumer technology and cars. A car lover and gamer since his earliest memories, Adam came to know the automotive world through video games. First it was Daytona USA, Sega Rally, and Ridge Racer; then came Need For Speed, which inspired an encyclopedic knowledge of '90s supercars, and, of course, Gran Turismo. If not for them, he'd assuredly be doing something else right now. Adam is based in the suburbs outside Philly, where there are ample roads for his hot hatch to stretch its legs. In his car, he's probably listening to indie rock, drum and bass, or Yankees baseball. ### Author social links [Bluesky]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()