I was in my teens when The Fast & The Furious, Need for Speed: Underground, and the Initial D anime came out, so I spent many years engrossed in street racing culture. It’s already been a couple of decades since then but street racing as well as the culture and community surrounding it are still very much alive. And JDM: Japanese Drift Master by Polish studio Gaming Factory is the latest game to highlight the very popular and much-loved Japanese street racing subculture.
From the title itself, it’s clear that the developers at Gaming Factory are fans of the subculture. For the unfamiliar, JDM stands for Japanese Domestic Market, which is a term often used to describe automobiles made by Japanese manufacturers for their local market. These cars have become popular with street racing fans all over the world, with the most dedicated taking the time, money, and effort to import them to their respective countries. So Japanese Drift Master, which also shortens to JDM, is definitely a fun bit of clever wordplay.
JDM is set in a fictional region of Japan called Guntama, that’s inspired by several real-life locations around the country’s Honshu region, such as Gunma and Saitama. You play as Tomasz Stanowski, a Polish driver seeking a fresh start and chasing his dream to compete in the Japanese drifting scene. The game’s story is told through manga panels, which is a pretty interesting yet apt way to portray the narrative. While not very deep or complex, the story is decent enough to push you through the game.
On the other hand, the game’s visuals are pretty impressive, which is primarily thanks to its open world map. The environments are great to look at and drive by, featuring colorful and varied locations. Add to that the game’s soundtrack, which features different genres that all fit well with the game.
Gas, Gas, Gas
If the game’s title and story haven’t made it obvious enough, JDM has a significant focus on drifting. Mastering it is core to succeeding in the game.
Most of the game’s challenges and missions involve getting a high enough or the highest score via drifting. Holding a drift longer adds to both your score and score multiplier. Furthermore, executing more difficult drifts, such as executing one at high speed or sharper drift angle, increases both even faster.
However, crashing or stopping during a drift will reset the multiplier for that drift, so you not only have to execute long and difficult drifts but you also need to end or exit out of them cleanly to get the highest score. Some missions will make that task even more challenging by also asking you to get the best time for that race at the same time.
Not all of the game’s races are primarily focused on drifting though. Grip races are more conventional, requiring you simply finish the race the fastest, while Drag races focus mainly on speed and acceleration. There’s even regular sushi delivery missions wherein you have to get to the delivery location as fast as you can while also racking up style points through drifting and avoiding any collisions lest your sushi order gets destroyed.
The difficulty of the game can also feel uneven at times, where a mission suddenly seems impossibly difficult to complete but is then followed by another challenge that feels much too easy.
Unfortunately, in spite of its focus on drifting, the game doesn’t go into a lot of detail explaining its mechanics and the fundamentals of drifting. For example, the game gives you several options for executing a drift, such as clutch kicking or using the handbrake, but doesn’t tell you which one is the best to use for specific situations. The game’s supposed “drifting school” works more as a skills challenge mode than a tutorial mode.
The game does feature a visual guide to help you see if you’re drifting properly: a curved bar with white, red, and green areas, as well as a needle to indicate your current drifting angle. Keeping the needle in the green maintains your drift while going into the white or red areas cancels or spins you out, respectively.
Thankfully, it doesn’t take too long to learn how to drift well and consistently on your own through practice and experience. The game also offers both an Arcade mode for more casual players, and a Simcade mode for those who want a bit more realism when driving. You can also set your car to either manual or automatic transmission.
Once you do finally get a good handle for drifting, the game starts to open up and become a lot of fun. Drifting through the game’s missions or open world becomes pretty exhilarating, especially considering many of the narrow roads & tight turns the map features.
Beat of the Rising Sun
The game’s open world map, while relatively small, is probably one of its best aspects, both in its visuals and features. The combination of locations that Gaming Factory has chosen to put together make for a pretty immersive experience, especially for those familiar with the real-life places they’re inspired by.
JDM also has a good range of, you guessed it, JDM cars to choose from. Most of them are officially licensed from brands like Honda, Nissan, and Subaru. Gaming Factory has promised that more cars are coming in future updates so those looking for more brands or models have something to look forward to.
The game lets you customize your vehicles in a number of ways. From its visuals, such as adding a body kit, all the way to many of its external and internal components, like its ECU, brakes, and more. You can even fine tune many of the parts, such as gear ratios, tire pressure, suspension settings, and a whole lot more.
This is another part of the game that could’ve used some more hand-holding, as it can get pretty daunting to figure out when you look at it for the first time. On the other hand, all the tuning options create a lot of opportunity for learning and experimentation to find the setup that not only works for you but also for the specific race at hand.
Conclusion
Overall, JDM: Japanese Drift Master has a lot of potential to become another favorite in the racing game genre. It’s executed many of its foundations well, from its driving mechanics to its open world map and customization features, and future updates can only make the experience better. While some may find its difficulty and some of its other aspects intimidating, it becomes incredibly fun once you get over that hump. JDM: Japanese Drift Master is definitely a game that enthusiasts should check out and newcomers to at least take a look at.