Star Overdrive Reviews
An uneven, but ambitious adventure. Caracal has taken ingredients from some key titles and genres, added a brilliant traversal mechanic and cooked up a chilled-out, sci-fi wasteland odyssey. The game's mysterious, drip-fed narrative will keep you intrigued, and every moment spent on the grav board is undeniably enjoyable. Although Cebete may feel overly familiar, its vibrant landscapes and hidden secrets still make it worth exploring.
Star Overdrive has bags of heart and a huge amount of ambition, and it manages to bring those things together with enough style to cover up some of its less-polished elements.
Star Overdrive follows the creative path of the last two Zelda games and adds a hoverboard to the formula to make it even more interesting. It has a few design decisions that mar the overall experience, but that doesn't mean skating around this alien-planet-shaped skatepark isn't really fun.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Star Overdrive is a gorgeous and ambitious indie third-person adventure game. It has lofty dreams of being Breath of the Wild with SSX-style hoverboard traversal. The exploration and board riding feel great. I loved the gameplay loop of travelling to new areas and gaining powers from dungeons. But the combat is way too simple, and obviously masked by a way too forgiving difficulty. A lot of the RPG mechanics are light and work well, but the hoverboard crafting system is an unexpected, overly complicated mess. There are a lot of interesting ideas in Star Overdrive. Even though they’re not all well-executed, I urge anyone curious to give it a try.
Hoverboards and rock music made the fortune of Back to the Future and the formula works quite well also in Star Overdrive. The game developed by the Italian team Caracal presents an aesthetically pleasing sci-fi adventure, with a setting that is not particularly original but fascinating and full of activities. Some 'stiffness' problems in the walking phases, small technical stumbles and a bit of repetitiveness in situations, however, prevent it from taking off.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Star Overdrive is an enjoyable open world experience, but it can become a bit tedious, specifically when it comes to upgrading the hoverboard. While you're shown the recommended stats for each area, they do change depending on the area you're in and if you waste your materials, it can be time consuming to get more. That said though, I still enjoyed my time with Star Overdrive and if you enjoy open world games similar to the Legend of Zelda on the Switch, Star Overdrive might be right up your alley.
It's an exciting journey that of Star Overdrive, a game that, with all its structural limitations, has proven capable of exciting and entertaining, despite the seemingly insurmountable goal that the Roman team of Caracal has placed at the base of the project.
Review in Italian | Read full review
While it could’ve been a bit more fleshed out, Star Overdrive is a genuinely fun version of: “What if Breath of the Wild was Tony Hawk?”
Star Overdrive rides with so much damn heart and style that it's hard not to appreciate its charm. While the combat definitely feels like more than a speed bump, and the camera can be road rage inducing, the exhilarating thrill of movement, unique storytelling and killer retro vibe keeps the somewhat bumpy ride going. Everything is nicely wrapped up in a compelling mystery, and if you're down to drift through the world of Cebet to solve it, Star Overdrive definitely earns a place in your indie collection.
Star Overdrive swings big - and for a team working with limited resources, it hits a lot more than you'd expect. While it wears its inspirations on its sleeve (especially the latest Zelda games), it still manages to carve out a style of its own, offering plenty of striking moments both visually and in gameplay. At times, though, the game feels like it's reaching beyond its grasp; some areas feel a little thin, and you get the sense it might have been stronger if the team had narrowed their focus.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Star Overdrive is a thrill of a game that was a joy to play almost from start to finish. Yes, there are issues here and there with the grinding and some questionable control decisions. But over looking that we are treated to a fun adventure title with a unique twist on the genera. I do wish the world (and our lead) had a little more personality. But if you're looking for a game in the tradition of the most recent Zelda titles this might be for you.
Star Overdrive isn't trying to be the next massive open-world blockbuster, but what it offers is focused, stylish, and incredibly fun. It captures a sense of movement and freedom that's hard to describe until you've flown across a massive dune, trick-boosted off a rock, and landed mid-swing into an enemy group. It's got bugs, some literal, some framerate related, but it also has soul which becomes clearly apparent as soon as you start playing. It knows what it wants to be and hits the mark with flair. If you like style forward games with movement based exploration, layered dungeons, and a keytar that hits like a truck, Star Overdrive is the perfect addition to your collection.
Overall, Star Overdrive is a game for the right moment. The game can be a blast to traverse with its hoverboard trick mechanics and can be extremely soothing if you want to explore, fight enemies, upgrade and customize your hoverboard and keytar, and solve the mystery of the story.
A bloated and bland action adventure title, with a few standout mechanics, but none that can save it from being an underwhelming package.
Star Overdrive's large and sprawling open world could have been its biggest problem, but thanks to a delightful and fun movement system, it turned out to be one of its biggest differentiators compared to other experiences in the genre. With its intriguing puzzles, leisurely combat, powerful emerging narrative, and beautiful visuals, it's an easy recommendation for all kinds of players, especially those who aren't in such a hurry to be dazzled.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
But it all comes together in the final game as a clunky project with too many influences and too little of its own. I am mostly disappointed in Star Overdrive because I can see the gem of a good game that was there and it just doesn't come to fruition. Even if the performance was more consistent and the animation was a bit more polished, there is very little to the loop here that makes Star Overdrive a good recommendation.
It may be quite lonely on Star Overdrive's planet but there's so much to see and do and its rockin' vibes help tie it all together. 🪐
Star Overdrive is a fun game that I think should have moved away from combat and focused on its more than notable hoverboard system and the puzzle areas. It's not a bad game at all, and Caracal Games have shown that they could make a great skating/hoverboarding game, since navigating planet Cebete at high speed is completely satisfying.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Star Overdrive is a unique title that is fantastic fun and compelling enough to see through to the end. I can’t fault the ambition of the development team in creating something that feels enjoyable to play and explore. It misses the mark in some areas, but the core gameplay loop and cruising around on the hoverboard kept me engaged from the start.
Star Overdrive is an ambitious game that delivers a lot of fun through its movement mechanics across the open world using a hoverboard. Unfortunately, however, it falls short by going overboard with the addition of systems and mechanics that lack the necessary polish to work as the studio intended, making much of the gameplay loop feel repetitive.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review