Commodore Amiga gets a fast new arcade racer with Brutal Pico Race

Brutal Pico Race is heading to the Commodore Amiga, and even in its unfinished form, it already looks like a good fit for the Amiga. Developer BSzili is working on a conversion of Damien Hostin’s compact PICO-8 racer, bringing its pseudo-3D tracks, quick handling and split-screen competition to classic Amiga hardware. The project is still in development. That shows. Performance dips, graphical glitches and missing sound remain part of the current build, so this isn’t a finished release yet. Still, the basic racing feels clear and surprisingly complete. It moves fast. Really fast.

Straight into the race

Brutal Pico Race doesn’t waste time with complicated menus, long introductions or an oversized career mode. You choose a ship, select a track and start racing. That’s the whole setup, and it works because the game puts its energy into what happens on the circuit.

The controls stay simple. You steer, accelerate, brake and boost. That might sound basic, but the tracks and rival ships make every input matter. Use your boost too early and you can drift wide on the next corner. Push into another craft and you’ll lose health, speed or both.

The racing line keeps changing as well. Certain track sections give you extra momentum, while following closely behind another ship can trigger a drafting boost. You’re always looking for a small advantage, but taking it often means accepting more risk. That gives the game some bite.

There are three ship classes: light, normal and heavy. Each one has its own pace and handling style, so the choice affects more than appearance. Light ships react quickly and reward sharp corrections. Heavy ships feel steadier when the track gets crowded. The normal class sits between them and offers the easiest starting point.

Six tracks and three artificial-intelligence settings provide enough variety to keep the races moving. You’re not dealing with a huge package, but that suits the design. Brutal Pico Race wants to be immediate, replayable and easy to understand.

Split-screen makes the difference

The two-player split-screen mode is one of the game’s strongest features, especially on the Amiga. Two players can race on the same screen while computer-controlled rivals fill the remaining positions. Each player can choose a different ship, so the match doesn’t turn into a simple mirror race.

It’s easy to see the appeal. The controls are quick to learn, the races don’t drag on and the difference between ship classes creates instant competition. One player might rely on the speed of a lighter craft, while the other picks something heavier and tries to survive the collisions.

Split-screen also gives the conversion a tougher technical job. The Amiga has to draw two separate views, track several racers and keep the interface readable at the same time. That’s a bigger challenge than running a single full-screen race.

The current build doesn’t always keep up. Slowdowns appear in some sections, and graphical artefacts can break the clean presentation. Even so, the game remains playable enough to show what the finished version could offer.

The Amiga version still needs work

This port is best treated as a technical preview. Sound hasn’t been implemented yet, and that leaves the races feeling quieter than they should. Engine noise, boost effects and collision sounds would make it easier to judge speed and react to what’s happening around the ship. Their absence matters. Racing games depend on sound more than people sometimes realise. You don’t just hear the engine; you use it to understand acceleration, impact and momentum.

The visuals also need more polishing. The pseudo-3D road works, the hills and corners are easy to read, and rival craft remain visible during busy sections. The core effect is already there. What’s missing is consistency. Some parts run smoothly. Others don’t.

That uneven performance is the main issue the developer will need to solve before release. A racer like this depends on quick response and predictable timing. Even a short slowdown can throw off a corner or waste a carefully timed boost.

A smart match for Amiga hardware

Brutal Pico Race makes sense as an Amiga conversion because its design is compact without being technically simple. Under the small graphics, the game still handles track movement, artificial intelligence, collisions, damage, drafting, boosting and split-screen play. That’s a lot of work for such a direct-looking racer.

PICO-8 games can also provide a useful base for Amiga projects. Their small resolutions, limited colour palettes and focused designs suit older hardware better than many modern games. But converting one isn’t just a matter of copying the graphics and pressing build.

The developer still has to rewrite systems, adjust timing, create new graphics routines and handle the Amiga’s audio, controls and memory limits. The finished game needs to feel natural on the target machine, not like a program running through an awkward translation layer.

Brutal Pico Race isn’t there yet. The current version has obvious faults, and nobody should mistake it for the final release. But the important parts already work. The racing is quick, the ship classes feel distinct and the split-screen mode gives the project a clear reason to exist. Fix the performance, clean up the graphics and add a proper audio layer, and this could become a sharp little Amiga racer that gets straight to the point.

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Straight into the race

Split-screen makes the difference

The Amiga version still needs work

A smart match for Amiga hardware

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