We’ve been shouting from the rooftops about Milestone’s anime-inspired arcade racer Screamer for several months now, but its gameplay is difficult to describe.
This is not your traditional arcade racer: it uses the right-stick for drift and it has a complex suite of Street Fighter-style combat mechanics, which will take some time to adjust to.
Here the team explains everything about the Echo bar, which is ever-present at the top of the screen. This serves as your defensive and offensive meter during each race, and it’s divided into two parts: Sync and Entropy.
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We’ll let the video do most of the explaining, but you build Sync through gameplay actions like active gear shifts, slipstreams, and drift.
You can then use Sync to boost or shield yourself; you may want to bank a couple of shields rather than boosting constantly to ensure you have some defence.
That’s because each time you consume Sync you’ll build Entropy which can be used to KO opponents or even launch a devastating Overdrive. The latter is an unstoppable super move, but it does leave you vulnerable if you misjudge a corner.
Needless to say, all of these mechanics contribute to one of the most unique, fun racing games we’ve personally played in years. Pair all of these mechanics with unique characters, who have different handling statistics and perks, and you end up with a highly competitive racer.
And as the team point out in the video, this is all tremendous fun in single player, but it takes on an entirely new life online.
This is one of the games to look out for in 2026 in our opinion. Get it on your wishlist.