Wabisabi Sushi Derby Review
Train living sushi to race and survive long enough to reach the finish line in Wabisabi Sushi Derby.
Wabisabi Sushi Derby. Credit: ITAMAE STUDIO / Kodansha
Wabisabi Sushi Derby from Itamae Studio and Kodansha is an endearingly ridiculous racing simulator. As a sushi chef, your job isn’t just to make sushi, it’s to train it to win races. It’s a cute game with a great hook, but there isn’t enough here for it to be more than a novelty.
As you play, you unlock new sushi toppings with improved stats and active or passive skills. You don’t control your sushi during races, but you choose when to activate its skills or cheer it on for a temporary speed boost. Between races, you train your sushi to improve its stats or teach it new abilities.
Sushi is perishable, though, so it won’t live more than a few days and you have to be ready to say goodbye and make something new. Most amusingly, its life can end even sooner if a customer orders it and catches it with chopsticks mid-race. These mechanics are key to the concept. They’re also what keeps Wabisabi Sushi Derby from developing much depth. Since every sushi has such a short lifespan, it's hard to get invested in raising one. You can't build a stable of racers either, only train one sushi at a time.
Wabisabi Sushi Derby. Credit: ITAMAE STUDIO / Kodansha
Wabisabi Sushi Derby. Credit: ITAMAE STUDIO / Kodansha
The sushi themselves are adorable. They all have smiling faces that the pixel art makes even more charming. The toppings are colorful and genuinely appetizing. If Kodansha released collectible toys of these, I'd buy them. You can even customize each one with a garnish.
Wabisabi Sushi Derby is cute, but it doesn't have much going on beyond the novelty. You’ll have a good time with it until you’ve unlocked everything, but there isn’t much reason to keep playing beyond that. It fits the game's price tag. Just don't expect it to keep you busy for very long.
Wabisabi Sushi Derby
Wabisabi Sushi Derby has an endearingly silly premise and plenty of charm, but doesn't have much depth beyond its novelty.
