4PGP

When I was a kid, I must have put hundreds of hours into the racing game Final Lap Twin. This was the TurboGrafx-16 follow-up to the Namco arcade game, which itself was the direct successor to Pole Position. I bring all this up because playing the new game 4PGP took me right back to the days of racing against Big Mick and Rick Drift on my cherished 13-inch TV. If Namco had continued the franchise onto the PlayStation and beyond, I imagine it would look and play a lot like this new throwback racer. But do the old school thrills still work in 2026? That’s what we’re about to find out when I review 4PGP.

Described as a love letter to a very specific type of arcade racing game that was prevalent in the 1990s, 4PGP is a no-frills racer that gets all of the fundamentals right. There’s no set-up or story here, just fourteen stages, nineteen cars and three different modes just waiting to be tackled. It’s easy to pick up and play, yet deep enough to keep you coming back for more. In other words, 4PGP is exactly what it promises. Nothing more, nothing less.

While there’s no story, there is a campaign to go through, complete with new cars to unlock. The game will pit you against a bunch of other computer-controlled racers in a globe-trotting championship circuit. You take on three different tracks and whoever has the most points at the end will come in first, unlocking a new, faster car. All four of these championships have four different difficulties with even more stuff to unlock.

Much like the arcade games that inspired it, there isn’t much to controlling these formula cars. One button accelerates and the other acts as both brake and reverse, though, if you have to reverse on the track, then you’ve probably already lost the race. There’s a turbo button, as well as a gauge you can fill up by driving through a designated pitstop strip (similar to F-Zero). And that’s pretty much it. The game offers a surprisingly extensive tutorial teaching you how to play, but I’m not sure you’ll actually need it.

While the gameplay may be simple, the fourteen different tracks put up a real fight. The game starts out deceptively simple, only to quickly pull the rug out from under you and throw impossible hairpin turns at you. This is the kind of racing game where you’ll need to memorize the track design in order to stand a chance, especially if you want to beat the harder difficulty levels. Your entire race may be over because you couldn’t navigate around an especially tricky corner or S-curve, so pay attention and treat those tough turns with the respect they deserve.

While I wouldn’t say that the track designs are anything fresh or special, there are a few stages that stand out. This is a game that does the most with very little. Each stage has to quickly convey the look and atmosphere of each real-world location, all of which is done through color choices and the kinds of trees, buildings or objects that are lining the track. The designs are a bit sparse, so maybe you get to see some architecture or specific type of foliage or a large mountain in the distance that reminds you of Japan. And for the most part it works. Something as simple as using a specific tint of green can immediately transport you to Brazil. I like that every race destination looked a little different.

While I may not be wowed by all of the track designs, there are definitely a few stages that really stood out from the rest. I’m a big fan of the Azur City stage, a coastal destination that takes us through the busy (and extremely narrow) streets of a bustling city. The urban setting, complete with high-rise apartments, tunnels and office buildings, is a nice change of pace from the rest of the more rural tracks. Speaking of which, the Germany track is also a standout. While not as flashy as Azur City, this European destination plays more with the verticality, making it feel a bit like a roller coaster ride. It’s one of my favorites.

Outside of the championship campaign, the game offers two other modes to race through. The first is a straight-forward time attack mode, which pits you against the clock to see if you can beat the fastest lap time. It’s a good way to learn the ins and outs of the tracks before jumping into the championship events. The other mode is a quick race that you can either play against a bunch of computer opponents or up to three friends. The game offers a bunch of split-screen options, but no online multiplayer.

My initial gut reaction was that 4PGP felt a bit light on content, but why is that? After all, the game has fourteen different stages, nearly two-dozen cars and a couple extra modes. It’s not loaded with content, like Gran Turismo or Forza, but it’s also not hurting for things to do. I think what I’m reacting to is missed opportunity. The game has so many different stages, so it’s a shame that the championship events are so dull. Another racing game may have found ways to reuse these memorable stages in a bunch of different ways, really getting the most out of each one. The four championships are fun, but it’s easy to lose interest after you’ve beaten each one. The tracks are there, but it just feels like this game is missing something.

As it turns out, a lot of my other issues with 4PGP revolve around what can best be described as quality-of-life issues. For one thing, I don’t like the button mapping. The game gives you two choices for the buttons, and neither of them are very good. I wish that I could map the gas and brake pedals to the shoulder buttons, like most modern racing games, but there’s no way to do that. Instead, we’re stuck with two terrible choices. Three, if you include the ability to use motion controls to steer, but you’re never going to want to do this because it’s the worst.

From a visual perspective, I like the throwback look. It manages to balance the simple, low-polygon look of the 1990s with modern HD graphics running at a speedy framerate. It looks like how you wish those old arcade games looked. That said, the illusion is broken if you look too closely. Many of the stages are sparsely decorated, almost as if you’re racing in the middle of nowhere, and the people on the side of the road are definitely 2D images. The game does just enough to be convincing, but only when you’re in the middle of a race.

The important thing is that 4PGP gets the fundamentals right. The races are fast and exciting, the gameplay is fun and approachable, the graphics are clean with fluid animation, and it offers a number of multiplayer options. It does everything it promises and nothing more. It would have been nice if the game offered a little more to do, but 4PGP is a good throwback racing game that gives players exactly what they want.