Screamer is one of the coolest arcade racers I've played in a hot sec, and I felt like a total badass drifting through its neon-lit cityscapes

God, I'm kind of in love with Screamer's whole vibe. No, not the 1995 PC racer. This is a whole new hotrod deal courtesy of Milestone—the same developer behind MotoGP and Hot Wheels Unleashed—trading out the old game's Daytona and Ridger Racer vibes for that chillwave anime aesthetic you see all over Wallpaper Engine and YouTube playlists.

Thing is, I'm a total sucker for that kind of stuff: neon lights in a nighttime cityscape, angular 80s cars modified out the wazoo cruising through the streets while breakbeat floods my ears. It's top-tier vibes, and Screamer is promising to serve up plenty of that even from just the small snippet I checked out.

Admittedly, I never played the original Screamer nor its sequel. In my defence I was approximately three entire weeks old when the first one came out. Not quite in keyboard-and-mouse territory with my tiny little fingers at that point in time.

But if you were one of those OG Screamer (or Screamer 2) enjoyers, I'd recommend treating this new entry as something entirely different. There's plenty of futuristic anime bullshit abound, which I say with an absurd amount of endearment, but if you're looking for a nostalgia trip with the series, this is not the place to find it.

If, however, you're looking for an ultra-stylish and wholly unique arcade racer, Screamer should absolutely be on your to-watch list. For starters, it uses a control scheme I've never seen in a racing game before: twin-stick driving. The left analogue stick controls my car's steering, while the right one handles all of the drifting. I've played a good number of arcade racers in my life, but initially getting to grips with Screamer's controls made me feel like Bambi on ice.

There's also the shoulder buttons to contend with—tapping L1 at the right moment lets me shift gear with a nice speed boost for getting the timing right, while holding L1 after building my meter allows me to boost along the track with a nice bonus extension if I get the timing just right. R1 handles more defensive options like a shield and the Overdrive ability, turning your car into a manually-controlled Bullet Bill.

You'll need these defensive options too, because Screamer doesn't just want you to drive, it wants you to kill.

Well, that's a bit extreme. But KOing other cars and keeping your own safe from rampaging souped-up bangers is also part of the gameplan in securing first place. During one particular track I had been maintaining the lead for a good portion, only to fail to pop a shield in time and have an Overdrive car plow right into the back of me, blowing my car into bits and ensuring I finished in a cool fourth place.

All the button fandangling does take a bit of getting used to, and I found myself initially struggling to find a comfortable hand position to accelerate, drift, and access all my metered abilities. But it only took a few races to click, and as soon as I did I found myself having an absolute whale of a time.

Something I wasn't privy to in this pre-alpha build is the narrative, which Milestone says will play a huge role in Screamer. I did get to try out a handful of characters though, each with their own unique effects that can do things like provide a free boost or fill my meters at a higher rate. They'll apparently all speak their native languages too, for some real Tekken-ass cutscenes where everyone seems to understand each other while speaking in entirely different tongues. I love it.

Racers are all split up into teams—there's Jupiter Stormers, who are astronauts-turned-racers, and my personal favourite trio Strike Force Romanda, who appear to be a former idol group sporting selfie sticks and outlandishly cute decals. If the designs alone are anything to go by, I have a feeling Screamer is going to be oozing with personality, and I'm already desperate to know just what kind of story Milestone is going to attach to all this racing.

Screamer is currently without a firm release date, slated for sometime next year. You can pop the game on your Steam wishlist if you're just as excited for a seriously cool arcade racer as I am.