Procedurally generated music games have long been a fascination of mine: I love the idea of mixing the world of music and gaming into one unchlorinated swimming pool of cultural appreciation. When Audiosurf was released in 2008, I snapped it up on that premise alone. Riff Racer shares this back-of-the-box bullet point, and both games use the music you give them to shape a road of sorts for you to drive some kind of vehicle along. But I’m not the kind of person who shells out for the same thing twice, so what does it bring to the table that Audiosurf lacked?

For an answer, we need to look at the meat and potatoes gameplay on offer. In this regard, Audiosurf is very puzzle focused and has most in common with Guitar Hero in its moving columns of coloured blocks, and Bejeweled with its ‘match they colours, get ye points’ objective. Riff Racer however, does precisely what it says on the tin and asks you to actually drive a car along the track it's created for you. The racing on offer is definitely on the arcadey side of the genre: you get a score multiplier relative to you being ahead or behind of the syncronisation of the song and you won’t be find any independent suspension mapping going on. However, the satisfaction you get from bombing down the course is immense as you hit speed boosts, barrel roll over ramps and drift round seemingly endless corners.

Aside from the user-selected music aspect, the game’s longevity and variety stems from the multiple cars on offer, each with various paint jobs. These can be safely ignored or purchased with the in-game currency; although completionists beware, the tokens required for unlocking everything would take a potentially insane amount of time to acquire. Another note of caution is that there’s no equivalent to Audiosurf Radio that provided a rolling selection of free songs to play. So if your personal music collection is a little on the slim side or you’re just very indecisive around what you listen to, this won’t provide the same levels of instant access fun.

I shall end with a little habitual reflection. I have noticed myself getting into a new routine with Riff Racer in my life: every time I pick up a new album and give it the first listen through, my next urge is to jump on and see what my favourite tracks conjure up. I’m pleased to say, the results rarely disappoint.