Screamer Review: A Reimagined Arcade Fighting Racer That Punches Above Its Weight

From the PS2 racing games that planted the seeds for my adoration of car culture to the current me that's eagerly anticipating Forza Horizon 6's arrival in a couple of months, racing games or the media have been an unsubsiding guilty pleasure after well past my adolescence.

That became evident now more than ever when I had the chance to preview Screamer a month back. Suffice to say, with how much I got to experience from that preview version and later sitting down to chat with the creative director himself, it proved to me that Milestone wasn't going to hit the brakes with this reimagined take on a forgotten gem.

With all that said, it was now time to experience the full package that Screamer had to offer, from every single racetrack and character to their cars, to the extended story mode that is the Tournament.

Despite my seemingly non-existent expectations at first, Screamer managed to run the victory lap on my heart and then some, fully living up to the gameplay-first labeling, albeit with some minor hiccups in some tight corners. Let's talk about it.

Like a Shooting Star

The entire Twin Stick driving model for racing games is something many will feel largely unfamiliar with, or you may just have experienced it to a moderate extent in a game like Inertial Drift. Thankfully, Screamer's entire gameplay-first emphasis makes it accessible to both casual and hardcore fans in the racing game playerbase.

The Echo System is your literal driving force in the gameplay systematics, with two integral resources: Sync and Entropy. Sync is the blue resource bar that accumulates over time passively with successful shifts, allowing you to charge up and use Boosts. Meanwhile, Entropy, on the other hand, is the pink resource bar that allows you to perform Strikes to briefly KO opposing racers.

While I explained this whole bit in the preview, it's time I gave you a proper insight into what we're working with under the hood.

This is by far the most hyperengaged I have ever been in a racing game since recently playing NFS Carbon Online. I say that because the former is essentially a hardcore overhaul mod of the vanilla title from EA and BlackBox, one that requires you to lock in due to the AI's overtuned difficulty in career mode and police chases.

Screamer's Echo System gameplay mechanics actively reward you for your engagement. Like, seriously, I need to mention the skill gap I felt at the start, from struggling to turn corners in this game to investing enough time to near-flawlessly manage my throttle, braking, and sync usage to glide across wide turns with relative ease.

Some of that might not feel possible in most cases, because almost every single car and character feels more distinctive than the other in Screamer. Each character has their own unique abilities that allow them to gain an advantage on the track in a special way. And their cars factor further into the playstyle, since each one has a slightly different base acceleration or handling.

For instance, the Anaconda Corps' supercars represent the trio's high-ranking executive style, focused on raw power, thus making them harder to control but equally faster on straightaways. Meanwhile, I had an easier time using the sports cars from both Jupiter Stormers and Strike Force Romanda, even though they lacked raw speed/acceleration. Cleanly gliding through wide turns with Hina was such a satisfying feeling that it almost puts you into a zen state.

This isn't me saying that this game will encourage you to have a "main," but having one won't be a bad idea either, since a diverse rosterlike this makes you want to try them all. And speaking of which, this all gets laid out for you in a truly action-packed way with the game's main story mode, The Tournament.

A Turbo-Charged Narrative That Pays Homage to 90s Action Anime

If you're someone who loved late 90s or 2000s anime like Akira and Gurren Lagann, then you're likely to enjoy what Milestone has cooked up for the main campaign in Screamer. An art-style presentation fueled by the brilliant animation team at Polygon Pictures, a varied array of characters, and a high-stakes, high-octane narrative that makes you second-guess until the end, the framework is handled perfectly, with some minor caveats.

The Screamer Tournament is an open invitation from the ominous Mr. A, who invites various oddball groups of racers to partake in a risk-reward racing challenge for an undisclosed prize. That can benefit any kind of party, whether it be a pop music group, corrupt corporate officials, or even a rebellious ex-military ragtag that is Hiroshi's Green Reapers.

At first glance, you'd think Hiroshi has the "main character" energy, and you're right about that assumption, but here's where Screamer's narrative truly shines. The campaign spans over 100 episodes, comprising the main Screamer episodes as well as decimal-oriented side episodes that shed light on the ongoing arcs of other characters.

The spotlight is never on a single group for an extended period, since the game is constantly flipping between characters' arcs to keep things moving, albeit at a snail's pace at times.

The characters themselves are the stars of the show, each one representing a different cultural background, personality, and demeanor. Even their language barrier flows seamlessly thanks to the in-universe creation of the ULT (Universal Language Translator), and, unsurprisingly, Tekken's language logic between its characters was a huge inspiration for the devs.

Almost every episode has a visual novel-esque feature scenario followed by a race, one that slowly introduces you to the mechanics, and once you've entered the third inning of the story, you're expected to go through each of the associated objectives in each race without the game holding your hand or reminding you how each element works.

The idea of having a "main" character is laid out for you here. You get to play every one of the fifteen characters on the roster to see how they work, but most importantly, you get to see all of THEIR stakes in the story and not just one specific party.

It gives the story an on-rails feel, with all the blocks, or rather, gear pieces, constantly in motion, with no brakes to counteract it. Every one of these characters has their own motivation for winning the ultimate prize, while some only seek to gain answers from just competing and surviving long enough in it.

More Glory To Chase After Than Just the Tournament

Now, who doesn't love multiplayer in their racing games? Because I sure do love unnecessarily shoving and side-ending everyone instead of focusing on maintaining a lead. But in Screamer, I honestly believe the Multiplayer will work well in its favor. You've got separate modes for up to 4 different players, as well as public matchmaking for a quick race of any mode.

Arcade Mode offers a range of different events for you to try; Time Attack allows you to set a record time on any track of your choosing within 3 laps. The Score Challenge accumulates your actions across a series of races to set a high score, and Overdrive is an intense survival loop to see how long you can last while your ride's charging at lightspeed across the track.

Plus, for anyone who's looking to tailor a character's car to their personal style, you can head into Gage's Garage from the main menu to select a racer's unlocked car and customize it to your heart's content.

You can change the ride's visual details and appearance with a wide selection of cosmetic options, but keep in mind that most of these are just new recolors. This isn't an NFS or JDM car game where you can pimp out everything to the extreme, unfortunately.

These modes will likely keep the game fresh for a good chunk of time after players successfully clear the story campaign of Screamer, and you've obviously got the Multiplayer to keep you and your friends occupied for a couple of burst sessions together. However, with time, I do hope they keep the post-launch healthy with new limited-time events or activities. Maybe even possible DLC characters?

If you're competitive or just love working up a sweat to prove to yourself, the leaderboards for each of these activities in the Arcade Mode are a great way to earn some bragging rights. You've already got a fair chunk of players setting high scores or time records, so good luck in claiming a valuable position in the rankings.

A Heavy Frecking Dose of Drama & Granny Shifting

Screamer's main story has a writing scope that's clearly paying dividends in the all-kills-no-fillers golden era of action anime. Which leads me to say that if a small minority is indeed expecting it, don't hold high hopes for a masterful narrative of any kind; instead, look forward to one that endearingly embraces some cheesy bits like a B-grade action movie.

In almost every key dialogue cutscene, you have a near-perfect balance of the intense drama between the Screamer Tournament's racing factions while equally intermixing some lighthearted comedy or banter to switch things up amidst the conflict.

Scenes with Hiroshi and Mr. A, the Anaconda Corps crew, or even the Kagawa-Kai trio will undoubtedly have you locked in with a deadpan stare, but in another, you'll be having a random chuckle over some comedy banter or just enjoying a wholesome moment between the Strike Force Romanda gals.

The voice actors do such a marvelous job of bringing these characters to life. I imagine a lot of people will love Róisín for her hot-headed and foul-mouthed Irish tone—I know I do because she's my favorite character in the whole game. She even has a few cathartic moments with Lavinia that help bring out her laid-back side. I won't spoil them, but they're so adorable.

However, I couldn't leave this all without pointing out some aspects that left a sour taste in my mouth or just felt slightly obtuse in hindsight. They're no deal-breakers for the enjoyment factor, by all means, but rather immersion-breakers, if that makes sense.

There are a handful of moments where the voice acting can feel flat, as if it's (purposely) being read from a script rather than sounding natural in a back-and-forth conversation. And much like what I experienced with Aisha's cutscenes in the preview, her Hindi still feels very robotic, even though I'm sure the voice actress is doing her best.

There are quite a few scenes where her dialogue feels packed with emotion, but in others, it comes across as extremely monotonous. Again, not targeted at her specifically, but even others like Mr. A (voiced by the majestic Troy Baker) can feel off. Maybe it's just me? I know it's a racing game, but given the strong emphasis on the narrative, voice acting is a worthwhile consideration, wouldn't you agree?

Lastly, I really wanted to point out and appreciate this game's moment-to-moment decision-making process amid races. Earlier, I mentioned how multiplayer can greatly benefit this game, and it's true. Should you use up your sync for some useless boosts just to charge your entropy for Strikes? Or should you play it safe and use it as a Shield against incoming Strikes?

The mind game's potential will go crazy in Screamer's multiplayer, much as it does in games like Mario Kart. Or if you don't want to do that, you can also hop into Team Races to see who can lead the pack whilst you clean the backline to rack up points via KOs.

The game sincerely feels like a spiritual successor to Burnout to me, with these kinds of gameplay fundamentals. Just try to go along with the learning process as much as possible if it's your first time with a Twin-Stick driving model.

Oh, and like me, hopefully you don't get pissed off by some tracks having these insanely obnoxious sharp corners that make your adrenaline receptors come to a complete halt. Like seriously, I can't count the number of times I slammed into a freaking wall just because my idiot self believed the car could drift through it.

With all that said, and as someone who's been an avid fan of the genre since he was a wee kid, is Screamer the answer to the fun arcade racing game that we've been waiting for a long time? Hell Yeah.

Screamer ends up being exactly the kind of surprise that reminds you why you fell in love with racing games in the first place as a kid. It’s bold, a little chaotic, and completely committed to putting gameplay front and center, even when a few rough edges manage to show through. Between the unique twin-stick handling, the risk-reward chaos of the Echo System, and a story that leans hard into its over-the-top anime inspirations, it manages to carve out an identity that feels both fresh and nostalgic. It’s not perfect, but it doesn’t need to be because when everything clicks during racing, Screamer is an absolute thrill to play. For anyone craving an arcade racer with personality and depth with a riveting storyline, this is one worth taking for a spin at full throttle.