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In a world full of realistic driving games like Forza Horizon & Gran Turismo, one man asks the question, “what if a driving game made absolutely no sense?”. And that man is Fábio Fontes, a full-time freelance illustrator and sole game developer behind Buck Up And Drive!, a completely balls to the walls driving game that sees you customizing your car with eggplant emojis and grinding your car on rails al la Tony Hawk Pro Staker.
The best way to describe Buck Up And Drive is if F-Zero and Tony Hawk had a love child with classic arcade racing games. The game is full of Fábio’s brand of humor, which mixes pretty visuals with tongue-in-cheek or downright crude humor. The release trailer for the game features tag lines like “grindy gameplay,” which is often meant to describe other genres like JRPGs while showing a car going sick grinds. Another tagline states that players can backflip their pink pickup trucks “on the f****** moon!”. being a nuisance to other players and the AI seems to be a big aspect of the game as well, since you spin attack and bonk other players out of your way. There are even some politically charged jokes when your car bonks into the police.
Buck Up And Drive’s! official Steam Page description only reads, “There is time to explain, I just don’t wanna.” In the About This Game section, it lists features of the game such as-
– Endless driving game inspired by arcade classics, with simple yet intense gameplay featuring a total slap in the face of realism. And a kick in the spleen, too!
– Procedurally generated tracks with multiple environments to visit, ranging from the somewhat realistic to the completely absurd. GO TO HELL!… literally!
– PINK. BACKFLIPPING. TRUCKS. ON THE FUCKING MOON.
– Go 1v1 against another player (or a CPU) in a fighting mode, with cars. I dunno either, I came up with it while in the shower.
– Customizable car decals through external image files. Put “eggplants” all over the cars, for all I care!
– Controls for both game modes are 8 directions and one button. Play one-handed, if you want! Keep your other hand for… holding orange juice! Yes!
– Available for both Windows and Ubuntu (other Linux distros may work).
Fábio Fontes is also developing another game at the moment, called Dunkehr, a sidescrolling action-platformer fighting game that showcases beautiful pixel art. It features fast-paced combat that is meant to test your reflexes. It seems that Fabio is once again the sole developer behind Dunkehr as well, and appears to be more story-focused than Buck Up And Drive! The story description reads-
“The Scale army has occupied the Duchy of Carroten. Many of it’s people have been taken hostage, including the Duke’s daughter Hop. You are a mercenary who’s taken to turning the desperate situation around. They are many, and they are strong. You are but one.”
There is no release date for Dunkehr yet, but you can play a demo here.
Buck Up And Drive! is out on right now on steam, with Fabio stating there are no plans for any further platform releases, stating why here.
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