JDM: Japanese Drift Master Review - A Lackluster Drifting Sim

Like every other child, I grew up loving cars. No matter how you put it, I loved seeing cars, learning about them, and collecting small toys because, to be honest, I did not have the money or ability to drive a car at that age. As a kid born in the '90s, the best thing you could do when you loved cars was to play with Hot Wheels or Matchbox cars or jump into Need for Speed to virtually emulate the feeling of driving cars.

Growing up, I played tonnes of racing games, especially titles like Need for Speed, Gran Turismo, Burnout, and Midnight Club. Naturally, like most car lovers, I loved drifting corners because, let's be real, there's nothing cooler than skidding through the corners in a slick way. However, as I grew up, my love for racing games faded, and I preferred playing simulation titles like Forza Motorsport.

Now when I first got to learn about JDM: Japanese Drift Master, I was intrigued, as it is a sim title with drifting at its core. To add to the already intriguing aspect of the game, JDM's map is inspired by Japanese prefectures. While drifting is fun in any scenario, the inclusion of Japanese road infrastructure makes it even better. The game embodies the feeling I got after watching Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift and Initial D.

Gaming Factory

JDM: Japanese Drift Master

Let me begin with the game's main aspect, which is drifting. The game features two styles of drifting: arcade and simcade control. The simcade control is a fully fleshed-out manual gameplay style that caters mostly to experienced car racing gamers, mainly for players with experience in drifting. On the contrary, the arcade control is catered towards players who want a more streamlined experience without the hassle of adjusting to certain aspects of a hardcore drifting game.

Now, throughout my play session, I noticed that the simcade control lagged behind the arcade control, which felt like the optimal way to play the game. With the simcade control, the drifting felt horrible. I was failing to turn corners successfully at random times, while with the arcade control I was consistently hitting corners every time. The simcade control needs a massive overhaul because constantly flicking the stick to get some points while drifting didn't feel good in the long run.

The game features a campaign mode, but it isn't really story-based. Rather, the game puts you in a series of missions that are based around drifting. So, for most of the game, you will have to keep drifting, which is the whole point of the game. The missions feel great at the beginning, but with time, they might feel repetitive for most players, but it is the whole point of racing games.

Moving on to the best part of the game, the world design. The map design in JDM is immaculate, as it manages to capture the raw feeling of Japanese prefectures. While the game allows players to roam around in the open world, it is still limited by boundaries, which means no straying off the roads like we usually do in Forza Horizon. The open-world aspect in JDM is similar to the ones we usually see in Need for Speed.

Gaming Factory

JDM: Japanese Drift Master

The devs have done an excellent job porting over licensed cars from the real world. The cars feel true to life with fantastic audio design. While audio design might add to the immersion, however, the cars feel janky when controlling them compared to cars in modern-day racing titles. However, I will go out on a limb and say that the cars do give a great sense of speed, which is a plus point in my book.

The one thing that confused me was the game's overall aesthetic. While the game is a visual candy, it suffers from a visual identity crisis. The game's overall aesthetic seems to lean towards a more anime-like design. But the visuals fall in a hybrid mixture of realistic and cartoonish aesthetics. Considering the game's setting and map design, the best course of action would have been to make the game more anime-like, which would have hit the spot for a wider player base.

Gaming Factory

JDM: Japanese Drift Master

The game performed pretty well on my mid-end rig. However, there were a few frame drops here and there. But frame drops in modern-day titles are a pretty common occurrence if you are running the game on a system that does not match the recommended PC specs.

I expected JDM to give me a more fleshed-out experience. But in my honest opinion, the game requires a lot of work and polishing to reach the ultimate product the devs are trying to deliver. JDM has the potential to become a good drifting sim, and I am sure with constant updates and fixes, the game will become more polished. But as for now, the game is just a lacklustre drifting sim with pretty visuals and the presence of Japanese prefectures as its settings.

I strongly believe that this game will be fun for players who use racing sim rigs to play racing games. Although the devs state that they have catered the game for players who play with controllers, I felt quite the opposite while playing the game. I expect modern-day racing or sim titles to cater towards all types of players, regardless of the methods they are using to play the game. JDM came off strong at the beginning, but unfortunately, the game missed its mark with the time I've spent drifting.