JDM: Japanese Drift Master is a game that could become the new Need for Speed

I don't really like drift racing, preferring to pass apexes with neutral agility. That's why I try to postpone drift events, which are now a mandatory part of such large-scale racing games as Forza Horizon 5 or The Crew Motorfest, until the last. Well, the semi-arcade races JDM: Japanese Drift Master, the basis of which is drift, made me, if not completely reconcile with such competitions, then at least perceive them neutrally. And all thanks to the very detailed piece of Japan that the Gaming Factory studio built in this game.

JDM: Japanese Drift Master seems to have everything that could make this game a new Need for Speed, especially since NFS itself seems to have "gone from racing" at least until the 2030s. See for yourself: there is a medium-sized map, which even visually resembles the NFS maps of the mid-2000s–2010s; there are high-speed highways, mountain serpentines, racing tracks; there is a city and a countryside; there are illegal and legal races; there is customization and improvement of cars; good graphics are applied. One nuance, the basis of the game is not just illegal night races, but drift races, although regular races, pursuits and even drag racing are also here, but there are much fewer of them. As indicated in the title, JDM: Japanese Drift Master is primarily about Japanese drift.

And JDM: Japanese Drift Master is a story-driven game. Not that a story is something completely unusual in racing games, let's think of TOCA Race Driver, Need for Speed: The Run or the latest F1 games from Codemasters, but it's quite rare. The story of JDM: Japanese Drift Master tells the story of a Polish guy Tomasz, who, due to an accident during an illegal race, has to leave Poland and hides with an acquaintance in Japan. Here he finds a new job, friends, gets interested in drift racing and assembles his own team to challenge the local champions. Who said Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift?

The game's plot is presented through... a manga, where each chapter ends with a race, either a competition, some kind of narrative chase, or, for example, a sushi delivery. Each volume of the manga is dedicated to one of Touma's opponents, which is the name Tomasz received in Japan. It seems that the authors have collected all possible clichés about Japan here. Here you have a romantic story, and the girl's parents who are not very happy about gaijin, and corrupt police, and the consequences of an old crime, and a delayed revenge. And there are also fights in the spirit of anime, an American special forces veteran, beautiful girls, a hint of kitsune, and so on. In fact, the game manga, although simple and sometimes very predictable, is interesting to flip through it and wait for the new part. By the way, the manga here is correct - you need to read it from right to left.

What is most impressive about JDM: Japanese Drift Master is that the creators of the game about the national Japanese racing (drift was invented in the Land of the Rising Sun), which looks more Japanese than even Tokyo Xtreme Racer, are not Japanese. The Gaming Factory studio, which managed to build such an authentic, detailed and beautiful piece of Japan, is a Polish studio. And, in my opinion, this is a great achievement in itself.

The world of JDM: Japanese Drift Master, the fictional prefecture of Guntama, is striking in its small details. There are small villages nestled along a mountain road; typical Japanese cubic subcompact cars, mopeds and bicycles neatly parked near houses; majestic mountains in the background; tiny shops with vending machines for water and snacks; neon lights of a big city; a port; a transformer figure; and sakura hanging over the road; an old white castle among the fields; and Japanese temples and torii gates.

It seems that JDM: Japanese Drift Master is the most detailed open-world racing game, which will give a head start to the aforementioned Forza Horizon 5, The Crew Motorfest, Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown and even simulators like ATS/ETS 2. It's a pity that JDM still doesn't have a normal photo mode and tasks for finding landmarks and taking pictures. Having such a world, not doing it is a big mistake. But it seems that in one of the future updates, the photo mode will still appear.

I caught myself trying to get to the next story race location without jumping between garages quickly, but on my own, switching to the cockpit view and trying not to exceed the speed limit. It's a very pleasant experience. By the way, the game has a tiny Honda Acty truck and turn signals, which you definitely don't need during the race, so maybe the developers will add cargo missions and taxis to the game later? It would be nice. Now, as an opportunity to earn extra money in JDM: Japanese Drift Master, there are sushi delivery missions, where the size of the reward depends on the integrity of the package, speed and style (drift), I usually complete such missions without rushing anywhere, for the sake of fun.

But let's move on to the main course - drifting. In my opinion, drifting in JDM: Japanese Drift Master is an almost perfect combination of complexity and realism. At first, you will be offered to complete several tasks in the drift school and will be taught various techniques for drifting the car and maintaining the desired angle of attack. Later in the manga there will be a chapter devoted to the nuances of tuning the suspension, differential, adjusting the camber angles of the wheels, etc. It is very instructive and really affects the behavior of the car. We advise you to turn off all the help in the game, so it is really more convenient to control the car in drifting.

In addition, we recommend choosing tiny powerful cars for drifting competitions, such as the Honda S2000, Mazda MX-5 or Nissan Fairlady Z. They are easier to start and control, and when taking sharp turns, such cars will fit into the narrow Japanese roads, which, by the way, have enough traffic cars that get in the way. And also, drifting is much easier with an external camera.

Personally, I liked the behavior of the cars in the game, powerful engines and drift settings require careful gas control and watch out for drifting, so as not to overdo it and not turn around, losing the drift multiplier. Regular races, in the game's terminology - grip races, are also not bad, but for some reason the authors almost ignore the numerous high-speed highways in them, as if leaving this patrimony to the new Tokyo Xtreme Racer.

But what I didn't like was the behavior of the opponents, who can crash into you during a long drift combo, or even get stuck in a wall and continue to accelerate senselessly. The traffic AI is no better, firstly, these cars literally crawl at a speed of 30-50 km/h, and secondly, they turn and change lanes chaotically and sometimes just at right angles. At speeds under 300 km/h in an attempt to set a record on the speed radar, it's a bit unnerving.

In addition, everything is very bad in the game with the physics of collisions, both between cars and with obstacles. Sometimes the cars bounce off each other like billiard balls, sometimes they stick, I did not notice any logic in the behavior during collisions. And of course, there is no question of any damage, these cars are invulnerable.

By the way, unfortunately there is no multiplayer in JDM: Japanese Drift Master, you can only compete with the online leaderboard, and with bots, which are not impressive at all. The authors are aware of this flaw and perhaps in the future a full-fledged multiplayer will still appear in the game.

As for cars, the developers of JDM: Japanese Drift Master licensed iconic drift cars from Mazda, Honda, Nissan and Subaru, such as the aforementioned Honda S2000 (1999), Mazda MX-5 (NA) (1990) and Mazda MX-5 (NB) (2005), Nissan Fairlady Z (S30) (1969), Nissan Fairlady Z (Z33) (2004), Nissan Fairlady Z (Z34) (2016) and Nissan Fairlady Z (RZ34) (2024). As well as the Nissan Skyline 2000 GT-R (1971) and Nissan Skyline R34 V-Spec II (1999), Subaru Impreza WRX STI (2002), etc. In addition, there are several unlicensed cars in the game, it seems to be Mitsubishi. Plus, a Nissan Micra (K12) 2002, Suzuki Jimny (2018) and Honda e (2020) have been spotted in traffic. There are currently 25 cars in the game, plus one secret one that you will get after the end of the story, but the authors have a plan to add new cars to the game throughout the year.

Of course, there are customization sets for all cars, both ready-made presets and the ability to change individual details. Plus tuning and detailed settings of car parameters. But there are no liveries and vinyls yet, they will be added later.

In general, the authors of JDM: Japanese Drift Master are determined, and although the game's sales are still very moderate, 50-70 thousand copies on Steam, they have a plan to support the project for the first year. It includes new episodes of the manga, which means new story missions; new cars and parts for tuning, the already mentioned photo mode, a new rally mode and even split-screen multiplayer! Right now, the developers are reading player comments and refining the interface, navigation, AI, steering wheel support and Force Feedback settings, and much more. The first patches have already been released.

I would like to express my special gratitude for the Ukrainian localization. Not only the menus, but also the entire manga have been translated, which is nice. No critical errors were noticed in the translation.

In the end, even with some flaws, JDM: Japanese Drift Master is a pretty good racing game that might make you fall in love with drifting and Japan.