A wet highway, a siren behind you, and the question of which side you're on this time.

The gut choice is blunt: Rivals only beats 21% of games. The detail softens it slightly. Controller feel tops its own profile, ahead of 62% of titles, and the art style clears 57% of games. It drives well and it looks fine. Fun follows, almost average, ahead of 46% of games, the soundtrack just behind at 44%, on few votes. And then the floor of the profile: attachment only clears 19% of titles, rediscovery 14%, the desert island pick 4%. That says it all. You enjoy it in the moment, you leave with nothing.

That's the fate of a good chunk of arcade racers from that generation: the speed is there, the cop versus racer chase works, but nothing sticks. The games that mattered in this genre left you a city, a soundtrack, a rivalry. Rivals leaves you a session.

So, who is it for? For you if you want an instant chase, no context, no progression to digest, just the road and the pressure. Much less so if you're looking for the racing game you'll pull back out in ten years.