Vortex RacerVortex Racer puts you in an anti-gravity ship, dodging hazards and firing rockets at rivals to win races and upgrade for the next one.
Vortex Racer
Vortex Racer puts you in the cockpit of an anti-gravity ship instead of a car, and the track is built for it — sharp banked turns and drops that only make sense once you stop thinking of it as a road. It’s made by Deer Cat Games, the studio behind Tunnel Rush, and it carries over that same forward-momentum feel with one big addition: combat. Your ship carries rockets, and firing one into a rival mid-turn sends them spinning off the track for a lot more time than it costs you to aim and fire.
Races are short and fast, power-ups sit along the track for the taking, and whatever you win funds upgrades for your ship before the next race — so even a rough run buys you something. There’s also a time trial mode for when you’d rather chase your own best lap than deal with rivals at all.
Controls
- Accelerate: Up arrow or W
- Steer left: Left arrow or A
- Steer right: Right arrow or D
Tips
- Save rockets for corners rather than straights — knocking a rival off mid-turn costs them far more time than hitting one on an open stretch.
- Grab power-ups even when it means a slight detour; the upgrades they fund do more for your lap times over a race than the fraction of a second you lose reaching them.
- In time trial there’s nobody to shoot at, so the only thing that matters is finding the smoothest line through each turn.
If the speed-and-reflexes loop is what you’re after, Super Tunnel Rush is from the same studio and worth a look.