Screamer Review

Milestone have proven themselves experts of the sim racing genre across titles like MotoGP and the Ride series, bit have also dabbled in more arcadey fare with Monster Jam Showdown and Hot Wheels. With Screamer, I’d argue they have nailed the blend of both, crafting an incredibly fun yet challenging racer that is never anything less than an absolute blast to play.

Despite being an old, I don’t recall the original Screamer titles from the mid-90’s, though watching some gameplay on YT it appears to be a mix of Ridge Racer (Riiiddggeeee Raaacceeerr) and Daytona – very much of the era. With 2026’s revival, we get a mishmash of anime, hyper speed driving, and incredible music that is all but guaranteed to get the adrenaline flowing.

The bulk of my time with Screamer has been with the Tournament, the game’s story mode/lengthy tutorial. We follow the story of various trio’s as they team up to win 100 billion dollars, though they all have various personal motives for entering the tournament as well. Hiroshi and co – the Banshees/Green Reapers – are there to enact revenge on another team that they claim killed their previous leader, while Strike Force Romanda are looking for answers surrounding an old flames death. The motives aren’t all death-related, but each have an impactful reason to be here. Excellently animated (though short) anime videos detail key plot points, with the rest of the story delved out via fully voiced, visual novel style text scenes. I found myself far more invested in the goings on than I expected, with brilliant voice acting and genuinely interesting twists and turns throughout. I’d leave the subtitles on though, as every team is voiced in their native tongue and as such, unless you can speak 6 different languages, you’ll miss what is said in the anime scenes.

It’s a brilliant way to introduce new characters, mechanics, and modes, and is pretty lengthy to boot. I’ve been playing for roughly 15 hours at this point and am only about half way through the Tournament. Thankfully, each and every new challenge cooked up is not just informative, but excellent fun.

Sometimes it’ll be as simple as finishing in the top 3, while others will have us trying to gather the most points as a team and finish first, or destroy several opponents along the way, or perfect boost multiple times. Again, sometimes these are literally cleverly presented tutorials, before we go into a proper challenge. Balance patches have been – and remain – on going, but so far I’ve found it pretty nicely tuned, with occasionally trickier challenges putting my skills to the test. 

The actual act of driving is sublime. Being more arcade-like in feel, we’re not punished too harshly for bouncing off a few walls, or missing the racing line by a mile, but equally when the flow is in effect it makes us feel like the best Screamer on the planet. Drifting is handled with the right analogue stick and can take a touch to get used to but ends up being a very natural feeling way of flinging our car around the corners. Because of the analogue nature, we can feather it to whatever degree we need, or flick it to the opposite side to course correct. We still need to brake occasionally as it’s not a cheat code for cornering, but when we get it right it feels fantastic to pull off.

In addition, we have semi-auto gear changing to deal with. Tapping LB when the rev counter hits the limit changes gears quicker than auto, and gives us a little boost too while filling up our proper boost meter faster as well. Like drifting, it can take a bit of time to get the hang of it but it is vital to winning a lot of the trickier races. 

A full boost meter, as well as Strikes and blocks using RB, round off our options. We don’t learn the latter until a fair way into the Tournament but these add a new dimension to races that up the adrenaline factor. The sponsor of the race, Mr. A and his mechanic Gage, have developed new tech named ECHO; a way to bring racers who have blown up back to life and into the race. This ECHO is a focus for the narrative as well as gameplay, and offers an inworld reason for players to respawn mid race.

A recurring theme perhaps, but learning the strikes and blocks is essential but tricky. We get a narrow window of incredible speed but limited movement to smash into other racers, and lining it up takes a lot of practice. It’s incredibly satisfying to pull off however, refilling our boost meter and giving us an edge on the rest of the pack. 

All in all, the core gameplay of Screamer is excellent throughout. While the Tournament slowly dishes out the abilities, we can skip all of that and jump into Arcade mode, where we can play any of the modes we fancy, though we won’t get the tutorial to go with them. No matter what we play, unlocks are given after every race for Gage’s workshop where we can customise cars for each racer with multiple colours, materials, and parts. 

Whether it was Tournament or Arcade, I have had an absolute blast with Screamer. It’s so easy to pick up with plenty to really dig into and learn, and it’s accompanied by some stellar presentation. The visuals are bright and detailed, with lots of neon colours and vast vistas on the edges of our vision, whizzing by in a blur of motion as we careen around a corner sideways at 200mph. The voice acting across the board is great – with the ever lovable Troy Baker as Mr. A – and the music, oh the music. Pumping electronica and rock back the races perfectly, and hitting top speeds sees our controller vibrating along with the rhythm (at least, it appears to to me). It’s a bit of sensory overload at points in the best way, and I’ve found even when things start to go south I’m still sitting there with a grin on my face, head bobbing along to the tunes, mind ready to get back into the race. 

Online play also features but as the game is not yet out we’ve been unable to check this out, but I will certainly see you on the track come launch day (where any skills I’ve gained will no doubt soundly be trampled on by better players).

One final note is on Xbox Play Anywhere. Screamer supports it, and it has been excellent on the ROG Xbox Ally X. It performs brilliantly, is easy to pick up and play in short bursts, and being able to carry on with my save in either location is fantastic.

Conclusion

Screamer is quite simply an incredible arcade racer, with stellar presentation and gameplay. It’s a rare racer that can hold my attention for more than a few hours, but I’ll be playing this for a long time to come.