Inertial Drift

In general, I recommend it. Some cars are as pleasant to drive as possible, while others are as wooden and unmanageable as possible. If you're a casual player who cares about the plot, you'll play the game pretty quickly and forget about it.
However, if you want to try to complete the game 100%.. this is where the developer tried to make everything as difficult as possible. The enemies are hellish racers. The time required to complete the laps is very, very short. I literally tried more than 50 attempts on one of the levels, and it was only the next day that I miraculously managed to knock out the gold. You will have to study the behavior of each car and learn how to handle it without a single mistake. In general, I like it when there is a real challenge that requires the most of our time, so if you also like such challenges, then you will have a long adventure.
And yes, you can't assign a reverse button in the game (and by default it doesn't exist at all). Therefore, if you hit an obstacle.. All you have to do is keep pushing on the gas and turning the wheels. And since the developer abandoned the game long ago, this "feature" is here forever.

Easily one of the most mechanically complex and nuanced arcade racers I've ever tried.
Each campaign has unique mechanics, but that does have the side effect of not really teaching you how to succeed at the hardest levels when you try to get at them.
Strong recommend
That said, I don't appreciate getting to the point in the story where the game says "Yes there are shortcuts. No, you can't use them. They're not for you."
And then asks you to beat a guy who is transparently cheating and a dick about it with "fair, honest racing"
Let me beat him up.

play it, suck at it, leave it for 6 months, come back, actually learn the game, become a god at the game, fall in love with the track design, the graphics and the vibe.
Great game

Gameplay-
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Nothing special
☐ Okay
☐ Bad
Graphics-
☐ Masterpiece
☑ Beautiful
☐ Good
☐ Will do
☐ Bad
☐ Awful
Audio
☐ Amazing
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
Audience
☐ Kids
☐ Teens
☐ Adults
☑ Everyone
Story-
☐ Lovely
☐ Good
☐ Average
☑ Not great
☐ None
Difficult-
☐ Just press a bunch of buttons
☐ Easy
☐ Significant brain usage
☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Not so easy
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls
Grind-
☐ Nothing
☑ Only if you care about leader boards or ranks
☐ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ A bit grindy sometimes
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ Insanity
Game Time-
☑ Short
☐ Average
☐ Long
☐ Depends on you
☐ Endless
Price
☐ Just buy it
☐ Worth the price
☑ Wait for sale
☐ Maybe if you have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended

This is a fantastic gem of a game truly like no other. I play a lot of racing games and each one makes me unlearn and relearn my muscle memory when I switch between them, but in Inertial Drift every single car requires you to do that to some extent (On top of the unique separate drift and steer sticks that every car boasts). At first this was really annoying and it pissed me off, but after taking a break and coming back to it, with some help from a friend who is very good at the game, I've fallen back in love with it!
It almost turns the racing genre into a strategy game, learning how each car operates and then deciding what inputs to use for each type of turn. The game involves a lot of repetition which would annoy me in other racing games, but the uniqueness of each car and the satisfaction of finally figuring out how to get that gold time makes it fun for me.
I don't seek out the sort of anime drifting car aesthetic, but the vibes in this game are amazing, the visuals, sound design and music are amazing, the only shame is that there isn't more racetracks and audio tracks - but for what there is its amazing. If I wasn't focussing on optimising my lines so much it would be a very serene experience.
The game is slightly rough around the edges, with some minor glitches that don't impact gameplay much, but that's completely excusable for this size of a game. I really appreciate the inclusion of a story with the biggest diversity interesting characters I've seen that develop through each campaign. However, I think its kinda dumb how in 1v1 races opponents are always supportive of you no matter what, there's maybe like 20 characters in the whole game and only one has the gall to be a little boastful when they overtake you instead of consoling you for falling behind. A very superficial downside though. Honestly the saddest part is since it's a very small indie game, the multiplayer is totally dead, though that means getting into a race with a friend is very easy!
I haven't bought the DLC yet but I plan on doing so in the future. If this game is on sale then I implore you to try it! Even if you end up getting overwhelmed by all the different control schemes of each car like I did, the first two difficulty levels in the campaign are very easy to get a hold of and fun and unique racing game experiences!

Deja vu, etc.
Its ok.
Interesting steering mechanics. Each car has a different steering system, some can drift while accelerating, some requires you to let go off the pedal before you can steer, some require you to brake before drifting.
You CAN'T turn without drifting, if you try is almost as trying to steer a 5 ton concrete block uphill.
Takes some time to get used to the controls since every class has a different system, but its a pretty good racing game.
Art could be better though. Every character has this androgenous design that feels like something you would see from a tumblr artist.
Every car is overdesigned, with bulky body kits, logos and what not.
Even the Trueno reference is barely regocnizable behind all the accessories. I only noticed it was supposed to be the AE86 from the name (Supremo) and the vaguely similar shape.
Also, one MASSIVE let down: no eurobeat or electronic music.
What the hell? You make a game called Inertial Drift, add Initial D references but NO EUROBEAT?? What passes for music is just generic beats. Almost elevator music in a few instances.
Do youself a favor, mute the music and get one of these 2 hour Eurobeat compilations in the background while you play.

I was looking for a chill arcade racer to take my mind off the serious stuff and found this gem. All what I was looking was here: quick loading (I don't want to wait 5 minutes and scroll through a ton of menus when I want to jump to a quick session), accessible gameplay (I'm not a hardcore simulator racing dude), and relaxing atmosphere. I found all this and surprisingly more: the innovating twin-stick steer/drift mechanic is fun and interesting, easy to grasp at first and with pretty high skill ceiling, a very satisfying to learn and finally get that nasty double curve bend perfectly while drifting at a funny angle. The games more are pretty varied and game has a ton of content in a form of campaign, various modes, split screen racing, ton of tracks. Also the stylized aesthetic of the game is very nice and works great for this type of game.

The only complaint I have, is the soundtrack is entirely forgettable, but it is easy to remedy (as I did) by just putting a funky 80s radio of your favorite streaming service and turning off in-game music entirely.