Nippon Marathon

In the end having extra modes beyond the main game do nothing to help Nippon Marathon remain a fun time for more than a few hours at most. It would be impressive as a final project for a college course and is still good for a few laughs at a party, but those fleeting good times are not enough for me to recommend this game.

Nippon Marathon isn’t not going to be everyone’s tastes – those eye-wateringly janky visuals (whether by design or not) and the nature of physics-driven racing are an acquired taste that most people are going to tire of, fast. However, look past the surface and there’s a multiplayer experience here that will appeal to fans of Gang Beasts and the like, who just want a silly party game that cares not for seriousness in any form.

Frames are dropped more and more as the pack of players separates and the camera zooms out, as the game struggles to animate the crowds of disco dancers, dogs and construction workers scattered around its levels. It gets to the point where the game completely freezes for moments at a time, sometimes with no visible cause on-screen, and that’s really unacceptable considering the low-quality visuals on offer here.